N°081 Statement Earrings - The Vanuatu Collection

The flamboyant tissue of this Scolymia coral—with its striking blue centre radiating into vivid greens and luminous contrasts—was the clear muse for these earrings. The coral’s single-polyp structure, bold yet intricate, spoke to me of symmetry framed by exuberance, a living architecture that I wanted to echo in metal and stone.

I began with tiny agate geode slices as the studs, their crystalline interiors mirroring the coral’s brilliant central disc. From there, I layered green onyx, apatite, chalcedony, peridot, and agate, each chosen to translate the tonal shifts that ripple across the Scolymia’s surface. The arrangement of beads within the 22-carat gold-plated frame draws on the polyp’s radial form, while the ornamental goldwork references its textured ridges.

For me, this design distils the coral’s radiance into jewellery: an interplay of geology and biology, where the exuberance of a reef polyp becomes a luminous reminder of how science can live on as adornment.