Christmas Past: Designers Share Their Fondest Festive Memories

What begins as an innocent childhood memory can morph into a powerful source of inspiration for jewellery designers in later life. The holiday season is wrapped up in family, but also in the quirky traditions that were created decades ago and have been passed down from one generation to the next. To see what shapes their festive celebrations, I spoke to a handful of designers and asked them to reveal a cherished Christmas memory… or two.

Stephen Webster

Due to the austerity measures in place for the working classes of the time, I hoped for two out of three at best. However, my mum (a chambermaid at the two-star Tollgate motor hotel, Gravesend) must have put in months’ worth of extra shifts that year because low and behold I received all three. The only things I remember wanting as a child, but which was way beyond the family means, was that icon of the 1970s, the chopper bicycle, and a ballistic monstrosity known as a Johnny 7. This terrifying, floor-mounted piece of hardware was pitched to 7-10-year-olds as ‘a one-man army’. Looking back, we were very lucky to have only fond and happy memories of Christmas. The biggest treat of all was staying up late with my mum to watch the annual ghost story for Christmas, always shown late at night on Christmas Eve. Afterward, frightened to death, we would both rush to get up the stairs first, scared we were being followed by the spirits of Christmas past.

Theo Fennell

Lydia Courteille

Anna Hu

Annoushka Ducas

Valerie Messika

Alessio Boschi

Solange Azagury-Partridge

Lorenz Bäumer

No matter whether you celebrate Christmas or just appreciate the holiday spirit, the month of December is a special time filled with family, food and childhood delight. It’s not the most extravagant gifts that make the season, but the feeling that one is surrounded by happiness and cocooned with those who truly matter.