I know a lot of girls spend countless hours dreaming up the perfect engagement ring. I was not that girl. Honestly, I spent more time dreaming up the perfect man to give me said ring. After I found him, all of my friends and colleagues kept asking me what I wanted. I’d think: I want to marry him, duh. But then I realized they were talking about the engagement ring. In lieu of the truth—that I had absolutely no idea—I would say “um, something pretty?” In order to avoid the extreme disappointment that would immediately follow my lame response, I quickly switched to a more definitive approach. “I want an emerald cut! Or a cushion cut!” I’d declare. Then I’d secretly google what these “cuts” actually looked like.
“Honestly, I spent more time dreaming up the perfect man to give me said ring.”
While the timing of the proposal was a surprise (I was in head-to-toe hiking gear in the Lake District, not sipping Bellini’s in Dolce on the Amalfi Coast as I’d imagined), I knew it was coming. And while I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man was right, I’d be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the ring. “What if I don’t like it?” I’d ask friends in hushed whispers. I was confident in his taste (evidently, it’s impeccable) but I wanted to genuinely L-O-V-E it because I knew he would have put so much time into it. And also because I am a terrible liar. “You’ll love it because he picked it out!” some sweet friends reassured me. “Just pretend to love it and we can rework it later,” came far more practical advice from LSD.
H.B: What does her box look like?
J.M: It has compartments with different messages intended for different times in her life. For example, one for when she was born and her first birthday, when she’s 16, 18, 21: they’re all jewelry birthdays. There are sections from where I grew up in New Zealand and where my husband is from in Scotland. And there are other little sections that say things like, “Be brave”, for a time in her life when she’ll have to be brave or a time in her life when she’ll need strength. They are all very personal.
H.B: That is such a great gift. For a daughter or even for a special occasion like a birthday or wedding (hint, hint, if my mom’s reading this!).
J.M: Oh yes, I’ve got mother-daughter boxes! Also for weddings, the Lovers Box which is from husband to wife or lover to lover. I’ve done them bespoke—a father did one for his daughter’s 16th birthday. That was amazing. This will be the first time I’m doing the boxes as an official collection for sale.
H.B: Which is so exciting, especially for those who aren’t familiar with your work yet. Everyone in London knows who you are, but in America you’re not quite as well-known.
J.M: Right, I don’t know how anyone would even know I existed in America. This shop is the only place we sell in the world. Instagram does help but all my American clients travel to the store in London.
H.B: Is the American woman a different client?
J.M: My American clients are my best clients. They just get it. My English clients often require a leap of faith while the American clients just go with it. It’s more of a journey for them.
H.B: You’ve also never been online before. How do you feel about that?
J.M: You know, I’m a little apprehensive. Jewels are like my babies. I’ve looked at all different sorts of wholesale opportunities and I’ve never been able to let them go, I need to have them here. So I’m excited. And nervous.
H.B: What are your favorite pieces at the moment?
J.M: We have a really amazing ring that’s a 5-karat pear shape which is all bamboo… It’s called Princess From The Moon and it’s all bamboo leaves. And then we have Space Odyssey which is kind of a shield-cut diamond. And I always love our party jackets.
H.B: When the grooms-to-be come in, do they know what they want? Are there times when you have to guide them?
J.M: It’s usually nice to be able to have a few different styles that people can choose from. The button-back is my take on the classic solitaire. Then we have more deco-classic Asscher- or emerald-cut with side stones which is really pretty. We are very flexible with our design label pieces. Literally you can be like, “Oh I like that ring but I want it in a 2-karat or a 5-karat, or I want it in a half a karat”, and we can make it happen.
H.B: What about when you don’t know the person you’re making the ring for?
J.M: I ask the groom lots of questions like, “What’s she like? Can you show me a picture? What kind of jewelry does she wear?” I try to build up my own image of her.
H.B: Well it definitely worked with my ring. I obviously love it but there was a point before he proposed where I thought, “What if I hate it?”
J.M: I’ve had girls come in hating what they have, so I often help make other rings fit more to a bride’s taste. I’ve also had guys come in here who have known a girl for only 6 months and I’m thinking, “Is this all too soon?”
H.B: Even then are you like, “Great, get a ring,” or do you try to slow it down a bit?
J.M: [Laughing] I’m like, “Come sit on my sofa, let’s talk.” I had a guy who got engaged after 6 months. He came to see me sweating with nerves and I thought, “Oh my goodness, is this the right thing? Is it going too fast?” He explained their relationship, I did the ring and I felt like I’d gotten it right. I was trying to reassure him because he was just beside himself—I didn’t know if it was just nerves or if he shouldn’t have proposed to her in the first place. I said if she doesn’t love it more than life itself then we’ll make something new. That was maybe 7 years ago. Now they have 2 children so it all worked out!
H.B: You also have to be very discreet with that process I’d imagine.
J.M: Yes I always say “patient-doctor confidentiality”. I’ve done engagement rings for 3 brothers and kept it all from the others.
H.B: What if someone’s like, “Here’s what I want” and it’s hideous? Do you make it anyway?
J.M: No, I’ll be like, “Can we do this or try this.” I’m a bit of a pusher and try to guide people if I feel they’re going in the wrong direction. I always tell them, “If you hate it we can change it”, but they never hate it—I’ve never had anyone come back.
H.B: What about your engagement ring? What did your husband propose with?
J.M: My husband proposed with a ring he actually had me make without my knowing. He pretended to be a client from New York. I was given a brief for a “very discreet client” that was to make “whatever you would like”—but for this girl in New York. I was like, I know these Upper East Side girls; I know exactly what she would want!” My business partner kept saying, “Don’t forget the brief, design what you would wear for yourself!” And I just kept thinking, “No, no, I know my client!” And so I designed a 2 ½-karat cushion with double diamonds around it and this quite intricate lettered diamond sequence. It was beautiful. I gave it to my business partner to give to “the client” and I said, “This ring is amazing. I wouldn’t wear it, but it’s perfect for the client.” And he gave it to my husband and said, “It is an amazing ring but she didn’t really follow the brief...she doesn’t want it but good luck.” And my husband still proposed with it.
H.B: How did you react?
J.M: I was like, “Yes to you but no to this ring that I made.” He made me wear it for awhile anyway as punishment.
H.B: I like that.
J.M: For being contraire.
H.B: Did you really have no idea?
J.M: I think I did subconsciously but I was also like, “Don’t tell me what to do, I know my client.”
H.B: So where is that ring now?
J.M: Sold. And then I had another ring, a yellow diamond with black gold wings which was sold. And then I had a gray diamond daisy, which was also sold.
H.B: Sold meaning… off your finger? Do people come up to you asking to buy it?
J.M: Yes and it’s usually guys. Because they’re like, “I want that and I want that now and I’m taking it.”
H.B: Well I guess that works for you because you can just make yourself another one.
J.M: Right. My wedding band went last week, which I’m quite sad about but it’s fine—
H.B: Wait it went last week? As in, someone asked to buy it last week? You didn’t want to say, “No, this is very sentimental”?
J.M: Well, no—I’d already sold it once before because I’d made it the wrong size.
H.B: And what about the jewelry you’re wearing right now?
J.M: I wear my Gypset hoops and my Ball n Chain necklaces everyday—this is my uniform. Then I layer on different rings. Right now it’s the button back rings in the Georgian cut down setting.
H.B: I love the idea of jewelry being a uniform.
J.M: That’s the thing; I love the idea of jewelry that you can wear to breakfast, on the school run, to a board meeting, out to dinner, while dancing on tables, anywhere and everywhere.
H.B: Tell me about the jackets.
J.M: The idea came to me when my husband gave me a 3-stone Victorian ring. It was very sweet and I was like, “Oh that’s so cute, I’m just going to punch that out and make it into something else.” But then I saw it was engraved with “1910” which is when his grandparents got married and I thought, actually, it’s not for me, it’s for my children. I shouldn’t take it all apart, I should keep it. So I made a ruby and black gold party jacket to go on top of it. It’s given it a new lease of life—it’s a completely different ring without changing anything. I stack it up with a few more diamond rings and it feels totally me.
H.B: So you view it as the opposite of costume, trendy jewelry?
J.M: Well, yes. I love jewelry that really fits across everything. Wearable is not the most glamorous word but there’s something special about what you wear every day. You’re wearing it very close to your skin and that needs to feel great.
H.B: Speaking of special, tell me about the new jewelry boxes.
J.M: I’ve been working on this concept since I had my daughter Estelle. The idea was to create something that she would fill as I would give her things throughout her life. I hope it’s something she passes down to her children, and they pass down to their children. Something that is super precious to leave behind.
H.B: So Jessica, how did you get started in the jewelry industry?
J.M: My father was an auctioneer and art dealer, so I came to London to do an internship at Sotheby’s. I spent most of my time in the safe; Russian crown jewels, 1920s Cartier... I just loved it so much! I came from the middle of the middle of the south islands of New Zealand and had never seen anything like it. What really struck a chord with me was the way the jewelry was made.
H.B: So then what happend?
J.M: I said, “I would like to make jewelry.” You think, “yeah I can do it!”—Ignorance is bliss, right! So then I went to work with a diamond wholesaler and counted diamonds all day.
H.B: Well that sounds like a fun job!
J.M: You think it’s fun until you have to count 5,000 teeny tiny diamonds—sneeze and they go everywhere! But what I did learn was how to look at diamonds. I began to hone my own perspective. It wasn’t about the four C’s for me. Now, within this house, we have our own four C’s representing what I think is important when buying jewelry.
H.B: And they are?
J.M: Craft, collect, curate, cult. The cult part is, you know, when you’re in you’re in. From there I designed my first collection, Messenger of the Gods, which we still sell today. One of my best sellers is the wing rings.
H.B: How did it go from that to where you are now?
J.M: I did a big ring which Rihanna bought. A stylist saw a friend of mine wearing it in New York and was like, “Oh, Rihanna would love this,” and so she came to London and bought it.
H.B: So by word-of-mouth? Instagram didn’t really exist back then...
J.M: Right, those were the good old days. We opened here five years ago and that’s when we were able to really start a proper business. It’s a huge store, about 5,000 square feet, in the middle of Mayfair.
H.B: You’ve done a great job with the space, it’s very well curated. Can anyone just walk in off the street?
J.M: I didn’t want it to feel like when you walk into a store and it’s all white and shiny and everyone is staring at you and you’ve got nothing to look at apart from jewelry; and you feel like you made a mistake and just want to run out the door.
H.B: I’ve done that a few times.
J.M: Yeah, there are stores that I’m still intimidated to go into. I hope that people feel they can find something of interest or beyond the jewelry [at my store]; that they could just sit on the sofa and read the paper.
H.B: Which is especially nice because you probably get a lot of men in here without their significant others. I want to talk about engagement rings. Are people like, “Help! What do I get?” or do they come in knowing what they want?
J.M: Honestly there are so many ways that it happens. I love engagement rings, especially because they are usually people’s first foray into jewelry.
H.B: Which I can confirm is 100% true because now I want a lot more!
J.M: Exactly. It’s kind of like a first step into the world of diamonds.