“The phrase ‘futuristic organic’ developed in my mind as I was collaborating with my client on the design of this brooch. As designer, I wanted the brooch to look like it ‘grew’ on a different planet. At first, I began designing with a 3.00cts. ‘emerald-cut’ emerald but the geometric lines of that particular cut just didn't flow with the organic design I and my client had in mind.

Around that time, I visited the home of my late mentor, the goldsmith and stone cutter, Erwin Springbrunn. Erwin’s wife Doris let me view Erwin’s private gemstone collection. Among the anthology of beautifully cut gems was a pear-shaped, 3.00cts. Colombian emerald with ‘no oil’*. The shape and the colour were perfect for my brooch project. Doris was willing to let me buy it, something that would never have happened if Erwin was alive, as his private gemstone collection was not for sale.

The emerald itself comes with an amazing back-story. An old friend of Erwin and Doris, frustrated with the political situation in Colombia in the early 1990’s decided to immigrate. After selling all his possessions, he then bought emeralds so that he could leave with his wealth ‘on his person’. It took months but eventually the emeralds made it to Ireland where Erwin was able to purchase some of these gemstones and create many beautiful pieces.

The 3.26cts. pear-shaped emerald we used in this brooch is the second last from that collection. Although both men have sadly passed on, I feel their story lives on in the gemstones that they have collected and faceted. Once I found this perfect emerald, everything about the design of the piece, started to fall into place. I wanted the emerald to be ‘the seed’ from which the bright blue titanium curves would grow over the shimmering sea of diamonds, and flowering at the top of the brooch would be a perfect 1.40cts. pear shaped diamond with a color of D.

My favorite contemporary couture designer is Iris Van Herpen. Her use of technology and her bravery in design is inspiring. Speaking about her “Hypnosis AW 19/20” show she mentions the Japanese technique of painting known as “Suminagashi” which literally translates as: “ink on water”. The way ink flows so naturally on the surface of water was the visual I wanted to manifest with this brooch. So, on completion, naming it Suminagashi was only fitting.

*The finest emeralds are known world-wide to come out of Colombian mines, most distinctly from Muzo. Muzo emeralds are the pride of Colombia, each one unique and steeped in the millennial tradition of the famous emerald mines in Muzo. The common majority of emeralds are filled with oil and resin to create a rich green colour and fill-in the imperfections. This, when dealing with emeralds, is one of the most important defining points for the gemstone buyer/collector. Unlike other gems, which lose their value if they have inclusions, high-quality, ‘no- oil’ Columbian emeralds are allowed to have these imperfections. Not only are inclusions accepted, but ‘no-oil’ Colombian emeralds can be twice as expensive as treated emeralds of the same colour, cut, and carat. A 'no-oil emerald is a rare and extremely valuable variety of emerald gemstone where clarity is not enhanced by the addition of any oil. This leaves no chance for a 'foreign' material (oil or resin) to get inside the stone. The term 'no oil' is widely known (but is generally not the terminology used on certificates) between collectors, jewellers, diamond/gemstone houses. Anyone who understands the phrase ‘no-oil’ understands the emerald they are looking at is completely natural in colour and that no additional inclusions will surface over time as the oil or resin fades