When searching for inspiration, Ellis Mhairi Cameron does what many of us do — she looks to the earth.
However, the earth Ellis looks to is atypical. It’s dewy, green and cool, marked by rocky coastlines and expansive meadows. Bog myrtle, harebell and Scotch thistle carpet the landscape, hiding centuries of buried artifacts and jewels. Scottish-born, now based in London, Ellis absorbs her surroundings, history and social heritage and reinterprets them in precious gold.
Her one-of-a-kind diamonds are chosen particularly for their unusual color — often an autumnal amber or red that elicits the sunrise and sunset over Scotland. Rather than aim for the precise look of modern jewels, Ellis’s “old cut” diamonds are antique, hand-cut stones from the 1800s & 1900s, reset in her signature molten gold.
Excavation and discovery are core tenets for Ellis’s collection. She incorporates medieval influences — ancient coins, fragmented architecture, and prehistoric tools — directly into the shapes of her hand-hewn pieces. Gold is carved and piled around her diamonds, giving the sense that the wearer has “uncovered” the gem.
“I find beauty in the irregular, the imperfect and the eroded.”
— Ellis Mhairi Cameron
