EXCLUSIVE: Dean Davidson Proves Good Jewelry Starts With a Vacation
A good ring changes the mood of a hand. A good pair of earrings changes the posture of a woman. A tray of sculptural rings and gleaming stones sits between two men who have spent years thinking about jewelry. Across the table are Dean Davidson, founder and creative director of his namesake label, and partner Fernando Fontinelle.
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The conversation begins where most jewelry conversations do: the category question. Not costume, not fine, but something in between. Davidson places the brand firmly in demi-fine territory—pieces crafted in brass and semi-precious stones, with design at the center. The words he returns to are simple but strong: timeless, sculptural, powerful.
The line keeps its distance from seasonal trends. Instead, Davidson approaches jewelry the way a sculptor might approach clay. “We treat it as wearable art,” he says, describing a process that studies weight, balance, touch, and mechanics. Earrings must sit right. Rings must feel natural on the hand. Some pieces shift, adjust, or reveal a second face when turned. Nothing fights the wearer. The pieces serve her.
And that wearer, Davidson notes, tends to be someone with a strong sense of self. “A lot of our clients are career women,” he says. “They tell us they walk into a meeting wearing the jewelry and feel like they’ve got this.”
Not every client runs a boardroom, of course. Artists, designers, and women in creative fields appear equally. The common thread lies elsewhere: curiosity, appreciation for design, and the pleasure of collecting objects that hold meaning.
Design Destination
Travel sits at the center of the brand’s imagination. Davidson describes each collection as something close to a souvenir—a keepsake drawn from a place and distilled into form. A trip becomes a ring. A city becomes an earring.
“You go somewhere and find something special to bring home,” he says. “It’s like a love letter to that place.”
The Ipanema Earrings, for example, take cues from the sweeping curves of Brazilian modernist architecture. Fontinelle points to the influence of Oscar Niemeyer, whose fluid concrete forms appear here as metal arcs that suspend a faceted gemstone. The stone itself takes hours to cut, each surface shaped by hand.
One of their favorite designs sits closer to the hand than the ear: the Plaza Ring, a cocktail ring that has become one of the brand’s signatures. It appears in several sizes and carries a certain adaptability—elegant enough for an evening event, casual enough for a workday.
The Many Lives of Jewelry
Across cultures, Davidson observes two distinct impulses. In some places, jewelry carries a sense of inheritance and identity. Women put it on as part of a ritual or tradition—almost like armor. In others, jewelry functions as a tool for style. But the deeper connection remains universal.
“Jewelry has this emotional weight,” he says. “When people wear it, they feel something.”
Modern women approach it with a different freedom than before. Sets and singular statement pieces dominated the jewelry box, but today, the rules feel loose: Stacks of rings, mixed metals, earrings climbing the ear in small constellations.
“People are much more playful with jewelry now,” Davidson notes.
Fontinelle adds another shift. Jewelry often sits closer to identity than clothing does. Dresses change. Jackets rotate. A favorite ring or necklace tends to stay put. It becomes part of the wearer’s personal uniform.
That closeness explains the stories the designers hear from customers. Some say the pieces are the first thing they reach for each morning. Others confess they never wore jewelry at all until discovering the brand. A pair of earrings, they say, can transform a plain outfit into a polished ensemble.
A Bracelet, a Market, and the Start of Everything
The brand itself began with a small accident of curiosity. Years ago, Davidson traveled to South Africa and wandered through markets in Cape Town. A bracelet caught his eye. He brought it back to Calgary, began sketching designs of his own, and launched a modest collection.
Before long, the project gathered momentum. Davidson moved to Toronto, secured a showroom in New York, and watched the label travel farther than he had imagined.
Today, the brand reaches boutiques across the globe, with new collections arriving each year—often sparked by the very trips that sustain Davidson’s imagination. One recent line draws from Thailand’s lotus flower. The next may come from the Philippines.
The pair plan to head south toward Palawan. The itinerary includes Amanpulo and El Nido, though Davidson admits the creative direction remains open.
“For the first time, we’re going somewhere without deciding what the collection will be beforehand,” he says. “We’re just going to sink into the Philippines and see what comes out of it.”
In the world of jewelry, inspiration often begins with a gemstone. Here, it begins with a place—and with the women who eventually wear it.
Available at Rustan’s Makati
Photos courtesy of VISIONS PR
The post EXCLUSIVE: Dean Davidson Proves Good Jewelry Starts With a Vacation first appeared on MEGA.
EXCLUSIVE: Dean Davidson Proves Good Jewelry Starts With a Vacation
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