Enchanted began with a very practical thought: I wanted to create a gold necklace that could be worn differently every day, alone or with any pendant. A favourite charm, an inherited jewel, a ring, a small object carrying a private meaning. The necklace should adapt to the wearer and to whatever she chose to attach to it.
Its rounded 18-carat gold links are joined by a fine double chain. Two clasps are concealed within the necklace as ordinary links, allowing its length and configuration to change. The collection was conceived as a set of one necklace and two bracelets. Worn separately or combined, they could become a short necklace, a longer sautoir, a lariat, a wrap bracelet or a choker. A separate link allowed a pendant, ring or personal amulet to be attached.
Jewellery has never been purely ornamental. Across cultures and centuries, people have worn objects close to the body in the belief that they could protect, heal, avert misfortune or carry particular powers. This was a world I had encountered repeatedly during the research for my doctorate. Amulets, talismans and objects invested with protective meaning appeared throughout the material I was studying, and the idea remained with me long after the dissertation was finished.
Alongside the chain and bracelet, we created our own small amulets: Over the Moon, set with moonstones; My Crystal Ball; My Wand; and a Magic Ring. Each played with the ancient idea that an object worn on the body might carry a power of its own.
“I wanted a necklace that could become part of a woman’s life. She could wear it alone one day and attach something deeply personal the next: an inherited pendant, a charm, even a ring. My research into the long history of amulets and protective objects gave the idea another dimension. What interested me was that the meaning did not have to be ours. The wearer could bring her own. And what pleased me most was that the idea really worked: one necklace and two bracelets could be worn in remarkably different ways.”
Renilde Vervoort
