Flower Wreath

“I created this tiara as an escape from and celebration of womanhood, contrasting perfect, idealised, golden flowers and dead, real, brass ones. Here, youth, viewed as an idyllic period of life, is depicted as beautiful, superficial, and artificial. The nature-cast Echinacea, made of a cheaper material, serve both as a frame for the diamond-studded flowers and as their roots, being soldered together. While the gold of the former will forever represent bucolic dreams of youth, the brass of the latter will develop patinas, oxidations, and scratches. In other words, it will become more sophisticated and, - gain depth - it will age. Both time-bound reality and romanticised memories, shape our present, in an unachievable balance to accept each moment”

18K yellow gold, 18K white gold (Faimined gold, Fairmined silver, copper, palladium), 800 Silver (Fairmined silver, copper), Brass, 2,34 ct Ocean Diamonds from the South African ocean.

25 x 21 cm

The creation of the Flower Wreath took 500 hours. Each Echinacea was handpicked, nature-cast, interlocked, and soldered to create the crown. Joy added 14 hand-forged one-of-a-kind flowers and 4 white gold branches with pear-shaped diamonds. Each was alloyed from Fairmined gold and Fairmined silver, palladium, and copper; then hand-milled, cut, hammered, shaped, and soldered. She set all 70 diamonds. The artificial flowers were positioned on the wreath, and polished or textured to achieve each’s individuality. In contrast, the Echinacea were left untouched, letting them oxidize during the making process.