Fernando Jorge

For collectors of contemporary fine jewellery, the designer's standing makes a strong case. Fernando Jorge has been described by The Telegraph's luxury jewellery writer as having a visual identity that is hard to describe but is sensual, bold, colourful and very contemporary. You are buying award-winning, designer-led fine jewellery rather than a high-street piece, which is where the value sits.

It is the sensibility more than any single motif. Annabel Davidson, who covers luxury jewellery for The Telegraph, summed up his work as sensual, bold, colourful, and very contemporary. That contemporary, sculptural quality is the signature buyers come to him for, and it is what has set his eponymous brand apart since he launched it.

Fernando Pires Jorge, born 24 August 1979, is a Brazilian jewellery designer who grew up in Campinas, Brazil, and was passionate about drawing from an early age. While studying design in São Paulo he made a living designing for a large manufacturer and later for Brazilian jeweller Carla Amorim, before moving to London in 2008. He is now predominantly based in the United Kingdom.

He launched his eponymous fine jewellery brand in 2010, presenting his first collection that June as the result of completing an MA in design at Central Saint Martins, which he studied from 2008 to 2010. So the brand grew directly out of his graduate work in London rather than from an established house.

His designs are manufactured in Brazil, Portugal and Italy, drawing on his Brazilian roots alongside European craft traditions. That spread of skilled workshops is part of how the pieces achieve their contemporary, finely engineered character, so each piece reflects more than one centre of expertise.

Quite a few, and they signal real industry recognition. He won the Couture Design Award for best coloured gems under $20,000, then for Diamonds above $20,000 in 2017 and The Editors Choice in 2018. He also took the Town and Country Jewelry Award for Best Diamonds in 2018 and the Jewelers of America GEM Award for Best Jewelry Designer in 2019.

His breakthrough came through the British Fashion Council. In 2012 Stephen Webster selected him as one of ten fine jewellery designers for the Rock Vault initiative, and in 2014 Rock Vault sponsored him to show at London Fashion Week and to make his first showcase at the Couture Show in Las Vegas. That support helped take a Central Saint Martins graduate to an international audience.

His jewellery has been worn by a notable roster, including Michelle Obama, Viola Davis, Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Emily Blunt and Naomi Watts, as well as Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres. That kind of red-carpet presence is a useful signal of where his work sits in the contemporary fine jewellery landscape.

He keeps private showrooms in three cities tied to his life and work: Mayfair in London, Chelsea in New York City, and Jardins in São Paulo. Because these are private spaces rather than open boutiques, seeing the pieces typically means an appointment, fitting for a designer working at the fine-jewellery end of the market.

Very much so. Alongside his Couture, Town and Country and Jewelers of America GEM awards, he was twice nominated for Best Emerging Accessories Designer by the British Fashion Council, in 2014 and 2015. Combined with that critical praise for his sensual, contemporary aesthetic, it places him among the well-regarded independent designers in the field.