Diamonds have been displaced a girl’s best friend in contemporary jewellery. While designers sometimes work in precious metals, today’s makers are just as likely to work with more commonplace materials such as velcro, glass and paper. Léa Mazy employs resin and aluminium to give the appearance of marble.
The work of the finalists in the Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery is devoid of gems and when artists do use fine metals they sometimes do so ironically. David Bielander’s ‘watch’ is made of silver and white but designed to look like a construction of cardboard and staples
