London-born and bred, Alice Cicolini’s fascination with India began in childhood, sneaking glimpses of Jewel in the Crown with one eye open, pretending to be asleep as her mother watched. The vivid colors, the grandeur, the elephants; she was enchanted.
Her first visit to Jaipur, almost 20 years later, was a sensory experience she’ll never forget “Nothing about that first encounter disappointed. Before we had even landed, the red dust, swirling hawks, and potent smell of burning fires that swept through the plane, is a sensory memory that I will relive forever.” Landing at dawn and driving through the Pink City sparked an intrigue to explore more. And so she did.
Alice’s journey into India was shaped by visionaries like Faith and (the late) John Singh (the creative power couple behind the Jaipur Literature Festival), and their friend Vinod Joshi, who unveiled Jaipur’s rich cultural and architectural heritage to her. But it was at the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur that everything crystallized for Alice. Standing before an ornate royal jewelry box, she found herself imagining the treasures it once held, the weight of history, the etchings of tradition. In that moment, she saw a way to celebrate India’s craft and rituals through a contemporary lens.
After more than a decade of curating exhibitions on fashion and contemporary design, and many years working with product designer Tom Dixon, Alice graduated with an MA in Jewellery Design from Central St Martin’s in London in 2009.
And the rest, as they say, is history. We spoke to Alice about her elegant creations and her jewelry-making journey, from her research into historical craft traditions to the deeper meaning behind that fateful jewelry box.
Our Interview with Alice Cicolini
Let’s start early. Where did you grow up?
I was born in London, and grew up in the same house all my childhood. My mum and dad bought it in 1970 and both lived there for the rest of their lives. I grew up surrounded by books, experimental gardening and love.
What drew you to jewelry?
Through my friend and mentor Simon Fraser, course director MA Jewellery at Central St Martins, who helped me to see that jewellery was a place where you could still create a hybrid identity creatively; part fashion, part craft, part industrial design, it was certainly not as formulaic a place to inhabit as fashion at that point. And through working very briefly for Andrew Grima in the late nineties; untrained formally, his immense creativity taught me to understand that there are many ways to be a jeweller, and to be brave.
Did you have an ah-ha moment?
I was originally very inspired by a jewellery box I saw at the Mehrangarh Fort Museum in Jodhpur. The caption stated, rather enigmatically, that the box would have contained all the items needed to perform “Solah Shringar”. This led me on a journey through Indian cultural practice from the legendary Kapila Vatsyayan to Usha Balakrishnan, via all sorts of wonderful stories of the lives of regal women!
Basically, the Solah Shringar is an adornment ritual, of sixteen stages, and includes both literal objects (rings, bracelets, necklaces), but also layers of sensory experience—scent, sound, tactility—and methods of building those layers, bathing rituals and so on. I felt this was powerfully evocative. I wouldn’t say I had even scratched the surface of where it will take me, but I have my whole career! So far, it’s encapsulated by the delicate sound of metal or rubies against hand-carved ebony in rings, earrings and pendants, which have movement built into every piece.
I also looked at creating pendants that can be taken apart to be used on different parts of the body, to basically pull together in one piece some of the many kinds of jewellery a woman might need. It still has a way to go, but I’m always thinking about how to keep developing that thought!
When did you establish yourself as a brand?
I started my brand directly from Central St Martins in 2009; I sold my first piece to Peter Ting, creative director of homeware for Asprey, directly from the stand. I think from there, I built on the interest and support of a group of people I had first met as a curator, principally Janice Blackburn, the extraordinary curator and collector, without whose support I probably wouldn’t be here today; Valery Demure, whose generosity of spirit and willingness to champion the unusual out of nothing more than respect, is a rare and valuable thing; and stylist and art director Alix Duvernoy, whose creative eye and willingness to experiment is rare these days.
Between them, and my agents Touba, they have given me opportunities to show my work, talked about it to the right people and opened doors to stockists who have been able to take my brand to the next level.
What’s your approach to jewelry design and what do you hope people will take away from your creations?
My ‘style’ is really about collaboration and juxtaposition, about craftsmanship and heritage, and colour. I also take quite a curatorial approach to my work; there’s a lot of narrative behind the collections. So I hope people will buy into those stories, behind the design, behind the people who made them, behind the techniques and heritage of the craftsmanship—and add their own stories to the gems as they become part of their lives.
I think the crafts techniques might change, but the principles of my practice and the approach to creating the work will remain the same. That approach is based on the concept of slow luxury, celebrating the beauty of ancient master craft and privileging artisanship alongside fine materials. To sustain a business in this industry though, I will focus this year on continuing to refine how we articulate the vision, and on taking the brand into new markets. In a world of fast luxury, it is hard to express the value of alternative choices to a wide audience but I am extremely passionate about finding a way to do that.
I also regularly remind myself that TS Eliot worked as an editor for Faber for his entire career and still managed to be one of the most important 20th-century poets that Britain produced. I live by two mottos: small is beautiful, and: good things come to those who wait.
How does your typical day look like?
An average day involves connecting with the many people who I collaborate with, from my Head of Studio, Gabrielle Harris, to the master craftsmen in Jaipur and London who do my work. I try to do as much email as I can in the morning and then use my evenings after the children are asleep to write, and to reflect on the day and the future.
I also still curate, working with other designers and artists as a creative commissioner, as well as now collaborating with other designers and businesses as a design professional. All of those interactions feed my thinking and direction in a really crucial way. As a curator, I relished working with professionals at the top of their game, for what I can learn, from their energy and from the constant degree of surprise and challenge involved with working with great thinkers.
I am based in London, and having two small children means I travel less than I did before, and when I do it's closer to home. I’m about to visit Antwerp for the first time which I’m really excited about, particularly since it’s the home of both Dries Van Noten and the Museum Van Bönigen, both huge inspirations.
What/who are your inspirations?
Andrew Grima (as above), Verdura, Boivin, Belperron. From today, Melanie Georgacopoulos, one of the nicest, most focused and talented people in jewellery; Judith Clark, for me the world’s most experimental and inspiring design curator; Anna Talens and Katie Horwich, two artists I hope to collaborate with in the future; Blythe House, the V&A Archive, a building that holds one of the world’s finest applied arts collections and presents it in a refined and inspiring way, where the whispers of these objects’ stories seem to echo through the space.
The World of Interiors and 1st Dibs are religious for me, beyond fashion to the appreciation of fine craftsmanship. Frieze Masters and Masterpiece, two of my annual pilgrimages on the London festival schedule. The New Craftsman and Mallet of Bond Street, two institutions that in their own way have taken on the herculean task of reminding people why the immaculately handmade is so hugely valuable, culturally as well as aesthetically.
Do you have a favourite piece (you’ve made)?
The Silk Route pendant: partly because it was the first piece I made in Jaipur, and partly because it encapsulated so many of the ideas that interest me – the cultural nuance of pattern, juxtaposition of colour and form, and the fact that it can be taken apart and worn in many different ways, allowing the wearer to make more or less of a statement according to mood. I love to work with carved wood and stone, 22 carat gold, enamel and richly coloured semi-precious stones (fire opal, yellow sapphire, peridot, pink tourmaline, almandine garnet, chrome tourmaline, azure opal).
What are the jewelry staples you wear?
My wedding ring, for obvious reasons, and a twisted gold split ring, which reminds me that functionality can also be beautiful and vice versa.
Is there anyone you would love to see wearing your jewelry?
The day that any one of Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett, Nandita Das, Lupita Nyong’o, Salma Hayek, Kristin Scott Thomas or Nicole Kidman arrive at the Oscars wearing one of my pieces will be a good day.
Is there a piece of jewelry you’d love to own?
A piece of vintage Grima – biggest and wildest.
What jewelry trends are you seeing at the moment?
I think that jewellery is polarising into branded, global, mass luxury (where women are happy to wear for life an engagement ring with Tiffany branded on the outside of the band), and master-crafted individual pieces that are the result of passionate commitment from maker and designer. To be a “brand” now is to have access to connections and vast resources—financial and personal: you have to be the complete package.
But equally, the age of brand is weakening at the first movers end of the industry as people tire of the closed circuit that is brand-advertising-media-retail-commercial. Lidewij Edelkoort recently called the end of fashion and the era of clothes; it may be that fine jewellery’s flirtation with fashion will be brief.
Finally, any advice for younger artists and designers?
Business is the balance of your voice and philosophy with the identification of people who share it. Stay true to the former for as long as you can manage to find enough of the latter.
Thank you, Alice, it was a pleasure!
Visit Alice Cicolini's official website.
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Last Updated on May 1, 2025 by Editorial Team
