Exclusivity, craftsmanship and original design underpin the work of London-based Louisa Westwood, a designer and maker of exquisite, limited edition jewels.
Louisa Westwood, the London-based jeweller, draws inspiration from art, the animal kingdom and ancient civilisations to create striking yet elegant jewellery pieces that capture the imagination. Her sources of inspiration often have a powerful aesthetic or a strong symbolic meaning, that she translates into impactful, statement pieces of jewellery, such as the Ruby Dragon necklace.
The handmade Ruby Dragon necklace is inspired by the powerful and beautiful Asian dragon, and is made with 18ct yellow gold, rubies, diamonds, sapphire, a natural untreated druzy and kyanite beads.
Half of the dragon’s long, fluid body is grain set with rubies, to represent his rough scales, and the other half is pure, smooth yellow gold to represent his soft underbelly. The ‘spacers’ between the beads have been styled in a traditional cloud design, whilst shimmering kyanite beads represent the blue sky. The centre stone is a natural, untreated druzy cut especially for the piece, which sparkles in the evening light, and was inspired by Hokusai’s work entitled ‘The Dragon of Smoke Escaping from Mount Fuji‘.
Westwood believes in taking the time to make quality pieces that appeal to buyers looking for something unique, and takes pride in providing a discreet, personal service to her loyal client base. Only a small number of exclusive, new creations are released each year, as one-off or limited edition pieces, and sold to private, discerning clients and collectors worldwide.
A deep respect for the warmth of old-fashioned craftsmanship means that she begins by painting her own designs using gouache watercolours, and then hand-makes every piece, using only traditional techniques. This respect for tradition is extended to all areas of production, from timeless letterpress printed business cards to bespoke, handmade leather jewellery boxes.
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She relishes working with gold, particularly 18 carat yellow gold, because of its natural, intrinsic beauty, and sees goldsmithing as a magical combination of art and science; the perfect medium to express creativity with the help of a rich colour palette of precious gemstones.
The Ruby Dragon necklace can be purchased at louisawestwood.com
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