Pippa’s Origin Story

Jewellery has always been part of my life, surprisingly my mother was not very into jewellery, she wasn’t very interested, which is sort of strange and ironic. But she had one necklace that she always wore, and when I think of her, I see that necklace. Jewellery is such an interesting thing because it is something that universally, all over the world – throughout time – people have worn and adorned themselves with, and loved, and had this incredibly strong emotional attachment to jewellery. So, it is part of human history, part of earth’s history, our planet’s history. Stones, rocks and gems are part of the whole journey of the human race. 

I’ve been making jewellery probably since I was a child. I carried stones and rocks around, drilled little holes in them, wrapped them up and wore them. Later, I learned to set stones, and much later I started working with artisans in different places to create the vision I had in my head. It’s something I find so interesting – the connection between humans and jewellery. We all relate to jewellery, women and men, we gather around to look at and compare and discuss the value of the gold and gems – it’s such an interesting bridge. 

I studied anthropology and did medical anthropology as a master’s degree before working in human rights for years in southeast Asia and south Asia, working in particular with indigenous peoples. I thought: maybe there’s a way I can use my intrinsic love of gems and stones, rocks and jewellery, and the meaning of them, and work with people in places where there may not be as many opportunities, or where their skills and traditions need new markets to stay alive.  Or, where there is just a need for work and jobs, places where amazing traditions can be bridged, translated, and interpreted to reach markets they don’t have access to.

In terms of design, I think the inspiration I find stems from so many different things. It can be from Islamic tiles, cave paintings, plants, natural forms, just the stone itself. This has developed over years and years, but generally when I’m working with a community who have very strong traditional aesthetic boundaries, I try and work within them so that their voice stays in it, and the design is drawn from something in that region. 

I am a nostalgist who looks back all the time, and I find things in the past fascinating – things that were handmade and treasured, loved and passed down through generations - there is something so full in that story. So I think the first collections I did had a feeling of the ancient gold in south east Asia, that was a big influence: where it sort of organically holds the stone, the wear is so soft, the hug from stone to metal is so beautiful: that was my first exciting collection where I’d pulled gold and stones together in a really beautiful way.