Diana Porter is launching her latest collection next month… and it’s got me very excited! As well as falling for every piece, I also love the concept behind the collection.
The ‘Thirteen’ Collection, as you may be able to guess, is made up of thirteen one-of-a-kind diamond rings. These unique diamonds include; geometric angular shards, speckled salt and pepper rose cuts and never before seen cuts. Inspired by these beautiful stones, they became the driving force behind each design, the result is, thirteen exclusive rings! The perfect recipe for this collection, don’t you agree?
Diana feels there has always been importance put upon the most perfect of diamonds, purest of colors with no inclusions and classic in their shape. Diana sees beauty in the opposite; the most unique and unusual of cuts are the most beautiful, and in turn inspire each design in her new collection.
Her collection is made in Fairtrade gold (more about this, keep on reading) and incorporates her iconic etched textures. Diana has evolved this technique, so that the textured surface of the metal forms the actual settings that hold the unique diamonds, giving a beautiful organic feel to some designs. The hand etched textures contrast and compliment the beauty of each fascinating diamond, making each ring truly one-of-a-kind.
High rose cut – Etched rose cut – Pear rose cut, all in yellow gold
A little bit about Diana herself:
Things started for Diana in the jewelry business when she made a new direction in life and took an inspiring jewelry course in Birmingham. For over 20 years she has produced innovative, thought-provoking designs, which hold great sentiment to the wearer and stand out as miniature works of art. Diana has always remained true to her original method of hand etching designs and words into the jewelry, developing this skill to create textures on the surface of the metal, as featured on her latest collections. She is also renowned for producing beautiful, unique engagement and wedding rings. Diana won Jewellery Designer of the year in 1999 and has continued to expand her collection ever since while keeping her company ideology the same. Again, she always stayed true to herself, she has her own identity which reflects in her work and that’s something I love an admire about designers. Diana is also passionate about keeping the manufacture of her jewelry in the UK and continues to investigate the move towards ethical trading, which has included visiting artisanal mines in Bolivia to look at the conditions. Now, all her new 9ct and 18ct yellow and red gold pieces, as well as 18ct white gold, are made in Fairtrade Gold as standard.
Angular Shard and Pear rings
Now aged 75 but having been in this industry for over 25 years, Diana opened her first shop in 2002 in her hometown in Bristol, UK. As well showcasing her own work, her ethos has always been to champion and give a platform to other designers, showcasing their collections and bring contemporary jewelry to the masses. Diana’s full collections are shown, in her beautiful Bristol shop in the historic Park Street, alongside an eclectic mix of work by over 80 other designers from all over the world! She also visits trade shows and graduate exhibitions each year, to find upcoming designers whom she then exhibits and promotes through the shop and website. I truly adore how passionate she is with her job but is also willing to help out other fellow designers. You can see she has a big generous and kind heart as well.
Diana still comes into the workshop and shop most days, seeing customers to talk about bespoke orders and designing new collections. That’s what I call being passionate and doing what you love!
All images and info thanks to Diana Porter and team