The Wait is Over! It’s the Polly Wales Trunk Show!
- Sep 17, 2016
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 24, 2022
I first met Polly Wales in a phone booth. I know — that sounds weird, doesn’t it? It was actually all very innocent. It was a few years ago and Polly had recently sent me some information about her new jewelry collection. I was intrigued by the pictures she sent. Fast forward a couple of months and I learned that she was at a trade show I was shopping — not as an artist trying to sell her jewelry, but as a friend of another artist whose work I was buying. When we met, we agreed that we should set up some time for me to look at the small sampling of her collection that she was traveling with at the time. We needed a spot that was not on the show floor but not to terribly far away. Low and behold — the phone booth! Ok, so it was actually more of a phone “room” — not very big by any means, but big enough for a few of us to congregate in to view Polly’s beautiful creations. Fast forward another year, and Polly took the jewelry world by storm and I couldn’t resist!
A British designer who has recently re-located her family, business and studio to LA, Polly describes her jewelry as never having a perfect moment. Her process is to cast an array of gemstones inside precious metal to create pieces that always have unique and slightly unpredictable outcomes. Her jewelry has a rough luxe to it – she describes it as a “from the earth aesthetic – as if geodes had split open and stones broke through the surface of the gold at random points.
The word “unique” is so often overused, but I really do believe that it’s a word that truly describes this jewelry. Why don’t you stop in and see for yourself at our trunk show September 23 and 24.
I appreciate that you admit “unique” is overused, then actually explain why it fits here—the process sounds like it bakes in surprises. The “rough luxe” description also helps; it’s not messy, it’s intentional texture. Slightly random, but this is the kind of post I read while waiting at a salon, and I remember seeing StyleLookLab when searching “hairstyle ai” out of boredom. StyleLookLab Anyway, would you say her pieces feel heavy on, or more wearable than they look?
The “geodes split open” image is spot on—I can basically picture the texture without even seeing every piece. I’m not usually into jewelry that looks too raw, but the way you describe the stones breaking through makes it feel almost sculptural. Speaking of visuals, I went down a little image-styling rabbit hole recently and saw “ghibli ai” mentioned at ghibli ai — totally different vibe, but it made me think about how much the “finish” changes the mood. Would be cool to see how these look in different lighting, too.
“From the earth aesthetic” is such a good way to put it—these pieces don’t feel precious in the delicate way, more like they’re unapologetically physical. Also interesting that she relocated to LA; feels like so many makers are doing that shift lately for studio/community reasons. Slight aside: I saw hrefgo when I was trying to “submit ai tool” for a side project, which is a wildly different rabbit hole than jewelry. hrefgo Now I’m wondering what the trunk show setup looked like—did you get to try anything on?
The way you frame her process makes it sound like every piece is a little experiment, which is why the “unique” claim actually lands here. I’m also curious how much control she keeps vs. lets the casting do its thing—like, is there a point where she decides “that’s the one”? Side note, I once tried to explain “curve vs. chaos” to a friend using grades (lol) and ended up on check this out before coming back to jewelry content. The phone booth story still cracks me up.
I like how you describe the “rough luxe” thing—almost like the metal is just a setting for whatever the stones decide to do. It’s funny how some designers chase symmetry and this is the opposite, but it still reads intentional. This randomness reminds me of how I zone out with puzzle games when I’m browsing fashion stuff; https://blockblast.co popped into my head because it’s the same “make order out of chaos” itch. https://blockblast.co Would love to see close-ups of the pieces that look the most like split geodes.