Melanie Eddy Stacking Rings celebrate the Platinum Jubilee
Pair of stacking rings, Melanie Eddy, 2022. The Goldsmiths’ Company Collection
“With time I've come to think of my work in jewellery, my practice - closer to that of a sculptor... really I am designing sculptural pieces for the body.”
The pair of dramatic faceted rings the Company commissioned from Melanie Eddy celebrate both the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 as well as the distinctive qualities of platinum itself. Eddy's distinctive mathematical jewellery exploits the use of geometry in the architecture of historic and contemporary sacred spaces to 'foster a sense of solace, peace and spiritual experience'; she creates geometric jewellery as 'intimate architecture — the design of structures for the body.’.
The larger ring, made of silver, is sculptural and oversized, with bold architectural polished planes. It is designed to be worn stacked together with the narrower platinum ring, which is darker and more delicate with a dense opacity to its angled surfaces. Eddy describes the way the two rings, when worn together, highlight the contrast between the two metals by reflecting light in strikingly different ways: 'At first glance both silver and platinum appear silver in colour, but having two white metals that have different tones and reflective properties in the same set allows subtle discoveries as the rings play off of each other.'
Written by Dr Frances Parton