Why the latest addition to the V&A's jewellery gallery is a coup for independent creatives

For any jeweller, having a piece acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum is a huge deal To have your work displayed alongside historical objects and contemporary greats is validation of its importance and relevance From a late Bronze-age gorget found in Ireland to jewellery worn by Catherine the Great of Russia, important Art Nouveau pieces by Lalique through to British legends Andrew Grima and Elizabeth Gage, the collection shown in the William and Judith Bollinger Gallery really is unsurpassed.

It has been an extraordinary 10 months for London-based, Ghana-raised jeweller Emefa Cole She has gone from a very quiet, almost reclusive life of being an independent jeweller who exhibited at fairs and had a word-of-mouth clientele, to having her work featured in British Vogue and Vanity Fair on Jewellery Now, after a long wait due to the pandemic, a ring from her Vulcan series is finally on display at the V&A.

Clare Phillips, curator at the museum and renowned jewellery historian and author, came across Cole's bold rings and cuffs at the Handmade Fair in London in November last year "I was bowled over by their beauty of form and their perfection of finish," she recalls. . Source