More than two decades on, she continues to collaborate with Georg Jensen, describing their relationship as very organic. Right: A Beautiful Life gold and aventurine pendant, new Left: A Beautiful Life gold and rutilated-quartz ring, new. “It was all about the story of mother and child,” she says. It still exists now, of course, but in those tender formative ages, it is so, so tight.” The first Offspring bracelet was a large egg-shaped bangle with a smaller egg shape attached to it. “At that stage of a child’s life, there’s this incredible bond that is just unbreakable. “The egg, for me, is a kind of a symbol of birth,” says Rabun, noting that her son Wyatt was quite young at the time. Right: Jacqueline Rabun for Georg Jensen silver and rose-gold Offspring pendant, new “I needed to understand the scale of things,” she says (photo by Line Klein/courtesy of Georg Jensen). Left: When Rabun started making jewelry, she hand sculpted all the pieces from clay. She called it Offspring, drawing inspiration for the pieces from the bond between mother and child. The firm liked an egg-shaped bangle she had designed and asked her to create a collection based on it. In 2000, Rabun started working with the legendary Danish design brand Georg Jensen. For example, her 1990 collection, whose name refers to the year she launched her eponymous business in London, comprises simple band rings of various widths available in sterling silver and 18-karat gold, which continue to feel both modern and relevant today. Her work also has a fluidity that encompasses both a lack of angles and a certain gender neutrality. Above: Jacqueline Rabun for Georg Jensen Diamond and 18-Karat Gold Cave Pendant, 2001, offered by Mahnaz Collection It should just become a part of the wearer.”ĭuring NYC Jewelry Week last fall, Mahnaz Collection presented “Meditations on Modernism,” an exhibition and sale of Rabun’s work from the past 30 years. I always think that jewelry shouldn’t wear you. “How it sits on your body is super important. “I needed to understand the scale of things,” she says. Her focus on how pieces feel as well as how they look has been integral to her success as a designer. I found that to be a more satisfying way to work.” “I hand sculpted all of the pieces from clay. “I asked a lot of questions, particularly to the jewelry designers who were exhibited there.” It wasn’t until she moved to London, in 1989, however, that she started making jewelry. Rabun got a job at the shop, and that was the beginning of the self-taught designer’s jewelry education (“I did study fashion for a brief moment, but I just knew it wasn’t the right path for me,” she says). Right: This large oxidized-silver ring from her Black Love collection is composed of two seed shapes that symbolize transformation and change. I was just so intrigued by this jewelry that was basically miniature sculptures - I was fascinated by that idea of jewelry as art.” Left: A 15mm-wide 18-karat gold ring from Rabun’s 1990 collection, which was named for the year she launched her jewelry brand in London. “I discovered this beautiful shop, M Gallery,” she explains, and “it just opened up a whole new world for me. In her early 20s, however, she had something of an artistic epiphany. Did her peripatetic childhood ignite an early creative spark for jewelry design? “I wasn’t interested at all,” she says with a chuckle. They were stationed in Texas and Alaska before finally settling in California around the time she started junior high. Rabun, whose father was in the air force, was born in Germany, and she and her family lived there until she was three years old, when they were transferred back to the U.S. Top: Rabun, who moved back to California in 2020 after three decades in London, launched her eponymous jewelry brand in 1990 and has been collaborating with Georg Jensen since 2000. Right: Jacqueline Rabun for Georg Jensen STERLING-SILVER Offspring hoop earrings. Left: Pieces from Jacqueline Rabun‘s collections for Georg Jensen (photo by Line Klein/courtesy of Georg Jensen). “I thought maybe it’s time to spend some time in California.” As a designer whose work is rooted in her family life and personal experiences, and who spent much of her childhood moving around, this desire for a sense of home is not surprising. You wouldn’t guess she’s a fairly recent West Coast transplant.Īfter spending 32 years in London, Rabun moved back to the States in October 2020 like so many during the pandemic, she craved the familiar. Dressed in a crisp white button-down and gold jewelry, a mix of her work and that of fellow Georg Jensen collaborators -an open bangle watch by Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, for instance - she is the picture of effortless California chic. The jewelry designer is speaking to Introspective from her home in Los Angeles. Jacqueline Rabun looks radiant even on Zoom.
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