While you can consider Billy Bride a new name in Australian jewellery design, the creative roots were planted many years ealier. “I grew up in a very design-oriented family. My mother has been working in Australian fashion for over 30 years, following in the footsteps of her mother who spent a lifetime devoted to dressmaking and textile design. As a kid I spent weekends in my Mum’s studio sewing hair scrunchies, beading necklaces and bracelets, and gluing together clip-on earrings. She encouraged and influenced me enormously, and so unsurprisingly, I’ve become the 3rd generation of a fashion industry family”. A talent that’s genetic. And generational. So it’s no surprise Renee followed a creative pursuit that’s imbued with an emotive context. These are pieces to cherish, to pass down from mother to daughter, one lifetime to another. A reflection of life experiences.
Don’t expect diamonds or pearls, rubies or sapphires. Billy Bride is an experimental attitude set under the guise of good healing. Champagne aura, lapis lazuli, citrine; each stone used harnesses a physical and emotional energy that guides the creative process, where the stone speaks to influence shape and setting. “Not every crystal is suitable to be made into jewelry. The stones that I source have something special, an extra indefinable presence that qualifies them for this purpose. Organic is a great way to describe it, it naturally evolves into a work which compliments each extraordinary mineral”. Each piece is a reflection of the less is more mantra. ”The rawness is the most compelling characteristic of mineralogy, and leaving the stones untouched as they are found growing in the earth, allows us to experience their energy in the purest way possible”. It’s an element of nature brought into everyday life.
And while each piece is created the same way, using the same technique, each ring is unique. No two stones are alike. And perfect is not better. Because of their unconventional shape and setting, imperfections are a mark of personal possession. A sign that it is yours, to be worn and loved. Eventually to be left to another life, for another, new experience.
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