The story behind the signet ring, one of the most important jewelry designs in history, is very fascinating. The signet ring is a design that houses a raised, flat face on a shank, or ring, and is typically engraved with an image or icon meant to signify something memorable- like someone’s initials, a family crest, coat of arms, or a meaningful symbol. But signet rings weren’t always as casual as they are by today’s standards.
People We Love: Margaret De Patta, Jewelry Designer
Margaret De Patta was an artistic visionary, creating some of the most innovative and futuristic jewelry in the mid century era. She was born as Margaret Strong in Tacoma, Washington in 1903, and grew up in San Diego, California. An artist her entire life, she heavily identified with the Constructivist, Bauhaus, and Democratic movements, and it was through a lifetime of design that her expertise in jewelry and construction flourished, until her untimely death in 1964.
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People We Love: Aldo Cipullo, Jewelry Designer for Cartier
From his birth in 1936 in Naples, Italy, Aldo Cipullo was born into design. His father owned and operated a costume jewelry manufacturing business in Italy, and after graduating school Aldo began an apprenticeship there where he would learn the tricks and trade of the jewelry industry. In 1959, the young, ambitious Italian designer immigrated to America to pursue larger interests in jewelry and fashion design.
It was not long before both Tiffany & Co. and David Webb hired him, but his biggest claim to fame was when he began working for Cartier in 1969. Not even a year into his employment there did he design his most famous piece, the Cartier Love Bracelet, and shortly after this piece, he created the “Juste Un Clou” collection, or the iconic Nail Collection. To add to his legacy, he is the only Cartier designer to date allowed to have his signature on his designs for the company.
Princess Dreams
Princess Diana, Duchess of Wales, was born Diana Spencer, a family of British nobility and with royal ancestry. In 1981, she became engaged to Prince Charles, and on July 29, 1981 the two were wed at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Despite being gifted the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara by the Queen on her wedding day, she opted to wear her own family’s tiara, the Spencer Tiara, which is made of multiple pieces of family heirloom jewelry and has been in the Spencer family since the 18th century. This tiara had been worn my many Spencer women on their wedding day, including Diana’s sisters, Sarah and Jane, and Diana is thought to have worn it to keep up family tradition. It was also said to be
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People We Love: Charles Loloma, Jewelry Designer
“I wish to create a relationship between the earth and myself. Sometimes we do not realize what we are kicking over. I want to make the soul come out.”
Charles Loloma was an artist’s artist- he was a master with pottery, painting, print making, and of course jewelry design. Even though originally dismissed as traditional Native American art by his fellow tribesmen, he is arguably one of the most influential jewelry designers in the Native American style, and helped bring American Indian style of jewelry into the mainstream during the mid-20th century.