Yahoo Finance In My Jewellery Box: Anna Sheffield
American fine jeweller Anna Sheffield grew up in New Mexico and studied sculpture and fine art in San Francisco. She began experimenting with jewellery-making, using steel, bronze and silver to create pieces for friends - eventually moving to New York and creating a costume jewellery line, Bing Bang, in 2002.
Five years later Sheffield launched her eponymous fine jewellery brand, which quickly gained a following for its unusual engagement rings. Featuring black and brown diamonds alongside moonstone, labradorite and rutilated quartz, her bridal designs celebrate nature's natural imperfections, while her ready-to-wear line is an unconventional take on stacking jewellery.
Sheffield's Southwestern background informs many of her designs: she's inspired by the materials and symbolism used in Native American jewellery. Her Future Heritage Project breathes new life into vintage pieces, replacing missing or damaged turquoise with diamonds to preserve the legacy of the original maker, with the money raised helping to fund scholarships for jewellery and sculpture students in New Mexico.
Here the jeweller shares the most precious pieces from her personal collection.
Talisman necklace
Everyone needs a talisman necklace. As a jewellery designer, and obsessive collector of amulets, I have had several over the years. This one is a current favorite and features all manner of keepsakes that I've collected over the years and that are meaningful to me for various reasons.
The Ganesha is carved in coral and set on black gold. I love the inventiveness of using the red coral branch as his swaying trunk. I've always loved the stories of this playful deity, and felt drawn to this piece in a huge case full of trinkets. It just felt like I should wear this; maybe I'll manifest some kind of blessing as a result.
There is a milagro (a traditional Latin American folk charm) of a hand, to protect mine. I had a silver one cast into gold, just because that metal felt more suited to the hand as an amulet. The evil eye speaks for itself.
The gold hammered leaves with turquoise dots is from Tibet. I love it for the color, the movement, and the way I imagined it travelling over the world, passing through hands until I won its favour.
I got the two owls in Myanmar. Everywhere we went in that country we saw owl figurines in pairs. So I figured it couldn't hurt to add a set to my collection, and I love how simple and sweet these are, with their ruby eyes.
The pearl imbues the necklace with some of that moon magic. And to hopefully bring a little luck my way. And the Suffragette heart, well that speaks for itself as well. We've come a long way, but there is further to go! Lastly, there's a tiny eternity band, which I added for good measure. I wear this necklace when I feel drawn to it. The symbolism is quite varied, so it's for more than luck or protection, and I like that.
Mother's graduation signet ring
The signet ring was my mother's. It is so meaningful to me, I seldom wear it. I have vague memories of her wearing it - she tended to wear more jewellery from the Navajo and Pueblo tribes when I was a child - and she gave it to me without much fanfare, as was her way.
I had gone to visit her and we were looking at pieces she was saving, like my baby bracelets and a few things that belonged to my grandmothers. I put it on, and we are like carbon copies of each other, so of course it fit. She just told me to keep it.
To me, this ring symbolises that she worked so hard to attend and graduate college, starting from University of North Carolina, Greensboro, when the campuses were not yet co-ed (only boys went to the big campus in Chapel Hill).
I feel so proud at the thought of my mother as a teenager, leaving a small town for university, graduating in 1969, and being her own woman always. Suffice to say, she occupies the spot at the top of my personal pantheon.
Flying Flowers earring
This is one of the first pieces completed in my Flying Flowers collection. The collection symbolises the transformative nature of the butterfly, which is real life alchemy on a grandiose scale. I wanted to make jewellery in homage to these magnificent creatures.
This earring is one half of a pair made in the early stages of development. The collection had been years in the making, so I had to keep one for myself. I have an asymmetrical number of ear piercings, so this one is perfect on my right side, and I wear it with multiple studs in the other ear.
It's made with an Akoya pearl at the center, which I love, as pearls symbolize loyalty and I am a very loyal Leo. The other stones are grey and rainbow moonstone with reclaimed grey and champagne diamonds. The Flying Flowers pieces were some of the first in my line to feature reclaimed diamonds so prominently, and I was super happy that we had been able to achieve that as a practice in our manufacture.
Michael Castillo silver Heishi bead cuff
This turquoise and silver cuff was made by Michael Castillo, who's a fourth-generation jeweller from New Mexico, my home state. He hails from a family that owns El Rincon, the oldest trading post in Taos, open and operated by the same family for nearly 110 years. The current owner, Estaban Castillo, and his son Michael both make jewellery. Many of the tools they use were made by Estaban's grandfather, which I find incredible.
I swooned over this cuff for about two years before I bought it. I go home to New Mexico once a year, and always pass through Taos. I fell in love with it for the way he used bezel-set Heishi beads, set sideways.
Usually you'd see a piece like this with cabochons, but Michael uses Heishi beads: a very early bead used in jewellery made by Native American tribes. The word means 'shell', as the first beads were cut from shell, but they can be made from other materials too. Using the beads in this way is genius. It blew my mind.
Michael Castillo ring
This is another Michael Castillo piece I purchased from El Rincon. It features a turquoise stone that was collected by his grandmother, I imagine from the Four Corners area. She was in the trading post for her lifetime, so amassed quite a bevy of stones from different lapidaries and traders.
The east-meets-west design and the beautiful turquoise speak volumes about his style and these beautiful materials. I admire Michael and Esteban's work, along with that of many other jewellers in the region. They are somewhat relegated to being a 'Southwestern jeweller', but I see them as distinct, talented designers with a voice and unique approach to using classic tools and materials.
I added some gold and diamonds to this ring for fun, and wear it quite a lot in a stack of gold, silver and grey-diamond straight bands.
Anna Sheffield is available at Liberty and Mouki Mou; annasheffield.com
Sign up for the Telegraph Luxury newsletter for your weekly dose of exquisite taste and expert opinion.
