GREEN SHOOTS: Spring has arrived in London, and with it a bouquet of hydrangeas, black peppercorns and tiny sea kale seeds created from gold and ebony, courtesy of Sophie Bouilhet-Dumas, the founder and designer of Mira Stella.
Bouilhet-Dumas is showcasing jewellery impressed by the vegetation in her Normandy backyard (and kitchen) throughout a weeklong trunk present at Connolly on Clifford Avenue, simply off Savile Row.
A member of the Christofle silversmith household and the spouse of Hermès inventive director Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Bouilhet-Dumas is a longtime good friend of Isabel Ettedgui, who owns and runs Connolly, which shares high-end leather-based items and seasonal clothes collections for women and men.
Hydrangea petal jewellery from Mira Stella.
Her jewels are delicate, and in some instances, scrumptious. Bouilhet-Dumas has scattered her gilded hydrangea leaves throughout chain necklaces, bracelets and drop earrings, and adorned rings with tiny clusters of ebony peppercorns and gold sea kale seeds.
Her wider assortment options jewellery impressed by oak bark, flax pods and the seeds of backyard orach, a plant thought of the “spinach of antiquity.” She makes use of diamonds, semiprecious stones and valuable woods to enhance the 18-karat gold designs.
Each bit is made in Paris utilizing the lost-wax casting approach, and the gold utilized in manufacturing is both licensed, recycled, or “grandfathered” to make sure accountable sourcing. Costs vary from 350 euros for a single earring to 7,200 euros for lengthy necklaces strewn with a number of motifs.
Bouilhet-Dumas is a giant believer within the energy of vegetation. She loves working with hydrangea leaves as a result of they symbolize resilience, longevity and are identified the world over.
Sea kale seed charms from Mira Stella.
“They started in northeastern America and have executed a world tour — right this moment they’re in China, the Himalayas, and Korea, whereas in Japan they develop as massive as timber,” she mentioned from the highest flooring of Connolly, the place buddies and prospects have been gathering to take a look at her newest creations.
She likes peppercorns and sea kale seeds for various causes. “Peppercorns had been as soon as as valuable as gold, and sea kale seeds can journey nice distances on water, from Norway to Spain,” she mentioned. The ocean kale is a protected species of plant and grows profusely on the cliffs of Normandy and England.
Bouilhet-Dumas makes use of the vegetation as inspiration for greater than jewellery, and loves consuming the fruits of her Normandy backyard. In an interview, she was fast to level out that black peppercorns pair nicely with Indian mustard seed.
When the 2 come collectively in a scorching pan they pack a nutritious punch, and in addition pair nicely with olive oil and heat new potatoes. As for the curly sea kale, that’s finest eaten when the leaves are younger and quick. Bouilhet-Dumas mixes them in with new potatoes and olive oil, creating one other feast for the senses.
Sophie Bouilhet-Dumas sporting a hydrangea petal ring.