A sculptor? A designer? Or a nature lover? Christopher Thompson Royds is all of this in one person. Really different from the others. His collections have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Coda Museum in Apeldoom (Holland), the National Museum in Zurich, the Museum of Fine Art in Houston and many other museums and galleries. Because Christopher Thompson Royds jewels can be worn, but only after having admired them as if they were a painting. And to be precise, a still life. His Natura Morta collection (still life in Italian) is of disconcerting purity: his necklaces are composed with the shape of wreaths of wild flowers. Daisies, buttercups, cornflowers: they are made of hand-painted gold or silver.
Before starting his work, Christopher Thompson Royds obtained a master’s degree in goldsmithing, silverware, metalworking and jewelry at the Royal College of Art in London, and first studied at London Metropolitan University. He decided to combine the passion for jewelry with that of nature, in particular of the English countryside: he lives in Oxfordshire after leaving London.
His jewels, unique pieces, require a patient workmanship and a lot of inspiration: an 18-carat white clover necklace costs about $ 12,000, but other pieces have a lower price. To obtain a realistic effect, the designer picks real flowers in the meadows, presses them and then shapes the border on paper. Another peculiarity: the jewels are sold in a marbled box reminiscent of the Hans Sloane Herbarium at the Natural History Museum in London.
