Jillian Abboud: Revivalist
From Jewelry’s Shining Stars: The Next Generation, 45 Visionary Women Designers (ACC Artbooks, July 2024)
Jillian Abboud/Jillian Abboud/ Switzerland
In her own words:
“In university I studied art history and architecture, writing my senior thesis on Northern Italian Renaissance portraiture. Luckily for me, the topic extended to the jewelry of the time. I became obsessed with merchant and signet rings and read all the relevant books by jewelry historians. This was a big “Ah-ha!” moment. I realized there was a connection between my love of gemstones and my love of this jewelry period, and I felt the spark to make my own designs. I played with the idea but didn’t know how to move forward. My first job as a private-equity insurance broker paid the bills as I began my adult life.
Soon after, I had the opportunity to worked at a small jewelry store in San Francisco and learned from gemologists, gemstone dealers and goldsmiths. Then I moved back to NewYork City and started my own line, and that is when my Swivel Signets, inspired by the rings I had been so attracted to earlier in life, were officially born. My home has been in Switzerland for quite a qhile now and I work with jewelers from here to Manhattan”
Are the Swivel Signets your favorite pieces in your collection?
“Yes.There are several variations now, butmy signature style features a gemstone on one side and custom hand-engraving on the reverse. It can also be easily put on a chain to double as a pendant. The mix of gemstones, personalization from the hand- engraving, and multiple ways of wearing the piece, is my version of dynamic, timeless, and personal jewels.”
Swivel Signet Ring with antique “moval” shaped diamond with celestial hand engraving on reverse side in 18K yellow gold.
How have you evolved?
“I’ve always worked with clean lines and soothing shapes, with a focus on harnessing the gorgeous colors of gemstones, and now I am experimenting more with scale and variations for my Swivel Signet designs.”
Swivel Pendant wtih pink tourmaline and pavé-set sapphires, garnets, and diamonds with hand- engraved flowers on reverse side in 18K yellow gold.
