Jun 10, 2021

Chatting jewellery, sentimentality, and the Flower Moon collection with Liv Purvis

A treasured keepsake; a small, important addition to an outfit; or something pretty, just for the love of it. Jewellery has the power to affect us, empowering us to express our emotions, whatever they might be.

So, you can imagine how excited we are to launch a new collection that ticks all these mood-affecting boxes, which is also our first ever jewellery collection designed collaboratively, with our brilliant long standing friend Liv Purvis.

In celebration of the launch of the beautiful Liv Purvis x Oliver Bonas Flower Moon collection, we chatted to Liv to learn a little more about the inspiration behind the collection and discover more about her personal relationship with wearing jewellery.

Liv, we are so thrilled to launch our first ever jewellery collab, especially with you, how does it feel to have your own jewellery collection?

Oh my god even reading that back feels really surreal! Honestly- such an honour- and really quite mind blowing. From the first meeting which was over two years ago, to now and actually seeing the pieces come to life, it feels like the most special journey.

Having worked with Oliver Bonas closely since visiting the head office and posting about the behind the scenes over six years ago (which I was SO excited about)- it's been so magical working with such an inspiring team, learning all about the processes and being able to create something that feels really meaningful to me, and hopefully lots of others too.

What inspired the designs for the collection, are there any details that mean something to you?

It started with a lot of moodboards, digging into my own collections, picking out the things I love the most- and working backwards. One of my earliest inspiration images was a sixties photo of a model on this incredible circular chair with flowers on top of it- which started the inspiration for the main 'No rain No flowers' necklace, as well as lots of floral and botanical imagery, muddled with fairy ring stories, a moon necklace Stevie Nicks wears and even some mother of pearl buttons on a shirt I saw.

It's a bit of a real treasure trove of inspiration, and the fact that everything feels slightly different gives it a bit of a true 'delving into a jewellery box' feel. I wanted the pieces to have a modern heirloom-like feel; combining the kind of specialty pieces you keep forever (one of the most memorable pieces of jewellery I've always loved is a signet my grandad wore) as well as the finer pieces that feel really beautiful to wear - like the MOP bracelet and moon necklace (and is also why everything is named after a special woman in my life).

I don't think there's a non-cheesy way of saying this either, but there's a bit of a nod to one of my favourite songs in there ('Flower Moon')- which I think would sum up the collection pretty beautifully.

I also wanted to combine a few handwritten words that mean something to me- which is where 'no rain no flowers' comes from, as well as 'believe' and 'dream' and 'do' - which although small on their own, add a little reminder of something hopeful in some of the simpler pieces.

Tell us about your jewellery journey, can you remember the first jewellery piece you owned and are there any key pieces that people around wore that stuck with you?

I wish I had more of a cool story to tell, but I'm pretty sure some of my first jewellery would have been from Claire's Accessories- and I vividly remember having quite a nice ride with their magnetic earrings (maybe some inspiration for the next collection?) Saying that, there's a signet my grandad always wore which has stuck with me, and a beautiful Yellowstone ring with a beautiful diamond border my nan wore too that both feel hugely sentimental and stick in my mind.

What does wearing jewellery mean to you and how do you think wearing it should make you feel?

I think wearing jewellery has many meanings to me- and I treat it a little bit like getting dressed in clothes. Some pieces I wear to 'add' something to an outfit, and almost like a costume effect, whereas others are complete staples, go with everything and have more of a sentimental attachment. I think it's nice to have a balance- although I'm a real sentimental softie and end up wearing everything for heartfelt reasons, which might mean in a few years I'll have a permanent ring on every finger and more necklaces on than Mr T- so you'll have to watch this space.

Lastly, we always like to ask, if you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be?

Oh my goodness so many things- worry less about what others think, know that what's for you won't pass you by and believe in yourself a little bit more- it doesn't make you arrogant, and it's good to be your own best friend.

Shop the collection

Discover more about the collection in our Liv Purvis Jewellery Behind the Designs