"Tessa Packard has fast become known as a jeweller who creates irreverent, highly imaginative pieces with relentlessly surprising points of reference, be it ancient Aztec architecture or retro penny sweets. Her mood boards and workbooks are almost as much of a visual treat as her actual jewels, which goes to show how much thought and work she puts into the design process - a mark of a true designer if ever there was one."
ANNABEL DAVIDSON, JEWELLERY EDITOR OF VANITY FAIR
The talk with the winner of Brand of Tomorrow by British luxury body Walpole and internationally recognised for her designing eclectic bi-annual collection, intricacy, individual and storytelling pieces as well as her highly imaginative pieces, self-taught jewellery designer Tessa Packard. Tessa Packard's creative design process, from that first spark of inspiration through to the final polish in her own words. A private jewellery show at The Hoxton Holborn on the 19th of February, 2019.
It was a warm February day when I walked into one of Tessa's masterclasses. The room was full with her fans and a champagne was served to compliment the one-hour talk. I have heard of Tessa's unique taste for her design process of making jewels, but I have never thought that I'd deeply get connected in awe. The one hour talk was to introduce Tessa's that first spark of inspiration through sketchbooks, redesigns and material sourcing to the final polish. Tessa has kindly shared her sketchbooks during the talk which was full of hidden treasures.
Flicking through her sketchbooks I nearly felt I was taken away from that moment with a room full of people who were listening to Tessa with amaze. Tessa's narratives were the key and the strong concept to any of her creative collection were the reason that you could easily want to be lost in her creative world. Each of her piece of jewellery stands out, each of the jewellery piece highly imaginative, it is understood as part of a whole, she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go and get it. The intricacy, mix of timeless elegance and irreverent playfulness in her jewellery was so immaculate.
Tessa's world in sketchbooks.
Tessa has talked about her inspiration and how do her eclectic bi-annual collection come to life and shared insight to bespoke, one-of-a-kind pieces that she works on clients’ requests. Tessa credited her own jewellery box for her inspiration for creating new pieces or rather create that missing one thing from her collection. By doing this she believes she has less chance of being influenced by those external forces like other jewellery designers, current fashion or celebrity trends.
Tessa's new pieces, High-ball and Under the Influence.
Towards the end of Tessa's talk, she was burden with questions by her fans. The questions were around her jewellery design, creativity, motivation, how to develop your own distinct style and about her inspiration and unique style, as well as her plans for the future. She has encouraged everyone to stick to their narrative, creative side and to the skills that everyone most favour.
Manhattan Ring 18ct yellow gold and lapis lazuli ring.
Absinthe Ring, 18ct yellow gold, mother-of-pearl and yellow sapphire ring.
This was a brilliant afternoon out for fans of Tessa Packard, all lovers of jewellery fashion, art and design, and those who want to know more what it’s like to make a living out of your creativity. It was a real opportunity to get to know one of Britain’s most exciting contemporary jewellers.
“My dream client would appreciate the research that goes into each collection, and would enjoy telling the story behind the pieces to admirers, almost in a way a true art collector knows all his artworks by name and their content by heart.” www.tessapackard.com
