The story starts with a theft – albeit of the innocent sort: a daughter poking through her mother’s jewellery box, discovering a cameo on a chain, tucking it away in a bag that would soon be carried off to university.
The hand-painted pendant is a little bit of old-world mystery. Not for nothing does Guy de Maupassant’s heroine in “The Necklace” choose this adornment when she wants to elevate herself from bourgeois clerk’s wife to the belle of the ball; a hand-painted pendant can have transformative powers. Think of it as an amulet.
Jewellery makes us feel a poignant connection, from the humble locket to the 19th-century pieces made from a loved one’s discarded locks. This season Jacquie Aiche nods to nostalgia with unique pieces that will make wearable history. But when you’re not wearing your JA pieces, and you tuck them away in your jewellery box for the years to come, be aware of prying eyes and fingers that sneak it out and give it a whole new story.
