To conclude this interview, Margaux talks about the jewellery designers she likes and the compromises needed to work in this competitive environment.
Can you name 3 of your favorite jewelry designers?
Denise Reytan, Shourouk, Polly Wales, Nak Amstrong, Ruth Tomlinson, + all the designers I have had the opportunity to work with and many others!
And some artists?
Yves Klein, Louise Bourgeois, Chiharu Shiota, Kate MccGwire…
Do you have favorite jewels?
Some pieces I have been given by friends or family.
A silver bangle with two small turquoise cabochons, bought in Mexico. I have never taken it off since I was 15.
A thin gold chain bought from Valerie Danenberg, a designer and antique jewellery dealer I have worked with in Paris. I have added a few pendants and charms to it.
A delicate ring in gold with an opal and a small rose cut diamond. I bought it with the money one of my grand dads had given me for my 20th birthday. It had been designed by Flavie Furst, one of the first designers I worked for.
I wear it with another ring set with small opal cabochons bought at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and another ring I made using a small piece of gold from one of my mother’s bracelets.
Some of the rings and earrings I have made when I was studying in London. They are actually the first pieces I made in the style of the ones I sell now.
What are the two main qualities to be a good jewelry designer?
Patience, persistence and passion.
Do, do, do (don’t overthink)! Dare to try things out, don’t be scared to work like crazy, don’t be scared to fail. Nothing is ever perfect and you are never completely ready. When you work really hard on a piece or on a project you sometimes forget that this is not the last one, that many others will come, that things will improve, that you will get better and what seems to be so important right now might seem completely insignificant a few days, weeks, months or years later. Also you should question yourself but not doubt too much. Finally you should surround yourself with people giving you the right support and learn how to delegate work, you can’t always be good at everything or be in control of everything.
Which jewel, created by another jewelry designer, would you have loved to create?
Polly Wales’s rings. The precious stones on her jewellery pieces aren’t set in a traditional way. She sets the stones in her wax pieces and then get them cast. The stones are trapped in the metal during the casting process. Her pieces have a raw, organic and soft look at the same time. I have always been interested in the relation between creation and destruction. I think this process is fascinating.
What is challenging in your job?
It is a challenge because being a jewellery designer (when you work for yourself or want to set up your own brand) is not just designing jewellery anymore. Unless you have enough money in the beginning to outsource all the things that need to be done to set up a business and a brand, you must know you will have to do many jobs at once: communication, management, marketing, design and build a website, logistics, creative direction, photography, design, production, etc,… and at the end of the day «designing jewellery» will only be a tiny part of all the things that need to be done.
It is also a challenge because in the reign of the internet and the social medias and in this world where everything changes so quickly we think we can meet instant success when building a customer base and a brand’s recognition takes time. It is a lot of work and time.
These new tools are amazing because they provide a chance to gain visibility and offer sales channels that didn’ exist 10-15 years ago. However competition has increased and it is more and more difficult to stand out from the crowd. How many jewellery designers on Instagram? And you are now competing with the world, not just your local jeweller. These tools have allowed anyone to reinvent themselves and turn into designers. Being trained as a jeweller, technical and creative skills do not guarantee success anymore. Good business, communication and marketing will now often overshadow an original and beautiful product, well made but badly presented.
What is the most difficult thing in your job?
To stand out from the crowd, to gain attention, to build a loyal customer base and to finally make a living with your work. Be patient. It is also difficult to carry out such a big project on your own, to find the strength, the energy and motivation to work and get things done when you don’t always have the skills needed or it is out of your comfort zone. The support and help of my friends and family is really important for me.
And the most rewarding thing?
To see people wearing and loving my pieces. To get positive feedbacks about my work. And, most of all, be lucky enough to do what I love and keep learning everyday even if it is not easy.
What are your projects?
Adding the rest of the pieces from the debut collection to the website. To keep making beautiful pictures in collaboration with ÄPLÄ Studio. To approach new stockists. To work on a capsule collection to launch this winter. To get bigger on social medias. KEEP HOLDING ON 🙂 !
Which designers would you like to see on L’Envers du Décor?
One of the few I mentioned in a previous question. Or Phylicia Gilijamse, Marina Stanimirovic, Inderjeet Sandhu, Hollie Paxton, Sofie Boons, Niomo, Jelka from Black Lune, Kia Utzon Frantz, Kuntee Sirikai, and my other classmates from the Royal College of Arts (Anabela Chan, Eunhyuk Choi, Molly Perrin, Izzy Parker, James Stoklund, Max Danger, Danyi Zhu, Joanne Wardrop,…) they are all equally talented.
Thank you Margaux!
To find Margaux :
Website : wwan1.com
Facebook : WWAN1.STUDIO
Instagram : @wwan.1
Photos : © ÄPLÄ Studio. Photographies fournies par Margaux Clavel et publiées avec son autorisation.
