When considering the works of Pippa Small, the first element that draws us in is the spontaneity of her shapes. So rarely does she work in stones of perfect form, instead finding it much more interesting to let personality lead the way. Sometimes rose-cut with oversized facets or tumbled smooth and aqueous, a gemstone in Pippa’s hands becomes nearly talismanic. There is a sweetness to her work, sure… but there is also inherent power.
Captured in minimal 18K bezels and strung on waxed golden cord, Pippa’s works skew bohemian and enchanted. Often, Pippa will add a small bell to her pendants—an element she picked up from her time travelling throughout Asia. While she roamed the region in search of ethically sourced stones and to learn more about traditional jewelry making, she was struck by the use of bells to set atmosphere and intention. As described by Pippa: “the gentle chime of bells is a sacred sound, evoking the processions of monks and nuns who carry small brass or temple bells.”
Of note in this delivery is a selection of designs from Pippa’s The Middle Path collection, wherein square cuts of spinel and diamond mingle in neat rows. At first blush, these settings appear neat and orderly, a departure from the free expression typical to Pippa’s voice. However, upon closer inspection, the stones are irregularly shaped and paired, fostering a delightful tension between the organic and geometric.
Pippa’s buy is always a pleasure. Her cases are a candy store of stones sorted by color, ranging from glimmering peridots and dark spinel to bright diamonds and soft aquamarine. Each case in her showroom is suspended from the ceiling, wobbling back and forth sweetly as we work through the pieces on offer. We ultimately followed the stones here, opting to bring in a wide selection of smaller blue, black and grey pieces that would work well as we move into fall. Of course we couldn’t resist also snagging a few of her signature tumbled gem pendants… find these in tourmaline, crystal quartz and a near luminescent aquamarine.
“Designing is about observation, looking at the wider world around us and finding the patterns, the shapes that please, fascinate, and charm; of finding what we long for, what we want to hold on to.”
