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Crafted in Colour: A Closer Look at the Mosaic Collection by the Royal Touch Group
You may remember earlier this year, I introduced you to the Royal Touch Group and its New York-based flagship brand, Royal Touch. In that article, I dived into this multi-faceted company’s history, its fully integrated business model, and its passion for tanzanite. More recently, the team approached me to share details about its Mosaic collection, which pays homage to a range of gemstones mined in Africa. This capsule range of bracelets, necklaces and earrings is presented like beautiful mosaic surfaces, as if the pieces have been unearthed in an archaeological dig. The only thing you will have to decide is which palette you prefer…
I think we all have a frame of reference for mosaics, whether that’s from witnessing the famous Alexander Mosaic in Naples (although it was originally found in Pompeii) or countless other historic examples in Serbia, Thailand, Jordan and Abu Dhabi, among others. Micro mosaics also play a small but significant role in the history of fine jewellery, with a handful of practitioners keeping the skill alive today.
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic (c. 120–100 BCE), otherwise known as the Battle of Issus Mosaic, was originally found in the House of the Faun in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic (c. 120–100 BCE), otherwise known as the Battle of Issus Mosaic, depicts the battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic (c. 120–100 BCE), otherwise known as the Battle of Issus Mosaic, is believed to be a copy of a late 4th or early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting, perhaps by Philoxenus of Eretria or Apelles
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic
The Alexander Mosaic (c. 120–100 BCE), otherwise known as the Battle of Issus Mosaic, is today housed in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples
The Royal Touch Group has taken this idea of using many hundreds, if not thousands, of individual decorative elements and translated it into minerals, specifically faceted gems from specific localities. Its Mosaic collection, which is new for 2025, capitalises upon the company’s talents as a mine-to-market manufacturer, meaning it has access to gems at their source and can select exactly the ones it needs for projects like this. It also cuts and polishes these stones in-house, so producing a mosaic of minerals with custom shapes and specific dimensions is within the realm of achievability (for others, it may simply be too time, resource or cost intensive).
Mosaics are greater than the sum of their parts – a single colour square, put together with hundreds of others, suddenly yields an image instantly recognisable as something unique. – Royal Touch Group
Rather than creating pictures from its gemstone mosaics, the Royal Touch Group has chosen to create beautiful covered surfaces of faceted stones that blend two or more mineral groups, like diamond, garnets, and sapphires. The setting style is very close to pavé, although there are definite gaps between each gemstone that add suppleness and flexibility to the pieces.
The first suite is Collection 1, set with Madagascan blue sapphires, Kenyan tsavorite garnets and South African diamonds. The highlight is undoubtedly a belt necklace that engulfs the neck in colour. If you look closely at this piece, you will notice that the gemstones are not symmetrically arranged and don’t appear set in any discernible pattern. Green pairs with green, then juxtaposes against oval-shaped blue sapphires, before moving into brilliant white diamonds… the eye is constantly moving, which creates a real sense of dynamism. The necklace is set with 44.71 carats of sapphire, 44.66 carats of tsavorite and 1.81 carats of diamonds, while the matching bracelet contributes a further 51.75 carats of precious gems.
A model wears a suite from the Royal Touch Mosaic collection, including a necklace, bracelet and a pair of earrings set with Tanzanian Malaya garnets and South African diamonds
Sapphires from Madagascar have been notoriously difficult to procure. Since the deposits in Madagascar are mostly alluvial and not hard rock deposits, the sapphires are very often hidden away in dense layers of mud. Like gold mining during the California Gold Rush, workers must work quickly to pan sapphires when a pocket is discovered, otherwise it may be lost. – Ashish Rawat, Royal Touch Group Principal
Collection 2 • £ POA
Collection 2 • £ POA
Royal Touch earrings from the Mosaic collection, set with 27.49 carats of Tanzanian Malaya garnets and 0.63 carats of South African diamonds
Collection 2 • £ POA
Collection 2 • £ POA
Royal Touch bracelet from the Mosaic collection, set with 62.58 carats of Tanzanian Malaya garnets and 1.16 carats of South African diamonds
Collection 2 • £ POA
Collection 2 • £ POA
Royal Touch bracelet from the Mosaic collection, set with 62.58 carats of rare Tanzanian Malaya garnets and 1.16 carats of South African diamonds
Collection 2 • £ POA
Collection 2 • £ POA
Royal Touch necklace from the Mosaic collection, set with 106.45 carats of Tanzanian Malaya garnets and 1.82 carats of South African diamonds
Next is Collection 2, another ‘Ode to Africa’, this time with rare Tanzanian Malaya garnet (from an alluvial deposit that has already been exhausted) and South African diamonds. What makes Malaya or ‘Malai’ garnet special is its hue, which ranges from warm pinkish orange and yellowish orange to reddish orange. In this bracelet, necklace and earring parure from Royal Touch Group, we see a tonal mix of romantic pink hues with some large oval-shaped garnets (set north-south and east-west) and smaller round brilliant cuts, interspersed with diamonds. Some stones have slightly deeper shades, whereas others are verging on pale peachy pink, so there’s plenty of contrast. I am told that every single gem was re-cut to achieve the high standards and precision that Royal Touch required!
Within the necklace, there are 106.45 carats of Malaya garnets and 1.82 carats of diamonds. If you were to shop the entire suite, you would be the proud owner of nearly 200 carats of garnets, plus a further 3.61 carats of diamonds for good measure. Ashish Rawat tells me that “most gemmologists have never seen a true pink garnet like these, since Malaya garnets normally come with a strong brownish overtone and most commonly have an orangish base colour”.
Finally, Collection 3 completes the Mosaic collection with a bracelet and necklace composed of pink spinel from Tanzania and mint green tsavorite garnet from Kenya. Royal Touch Group describes these as “two of the world’s most underrated gemstones”, and it’s easy to see why. Despite age-old rumours that pink and green ‘should never be seen’, they are not inherently clashing colours and sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. I am told that the trick to the perfect blend of pink and green is choosing a pink hue with a touch of red, which is exemplified by these oval- and round-shaped Tanzanian gems.
A model wears a necklace and bracelet from the Royal Touch Mosaic collection, set with pink spinel from Tanzania, mint green tsavorite from Kenya and accented with diamonds
Highly undervalued and beautifully saturated, spinel has been a collectors dream for years. Pink spinels have seen some of the highest auction prices in recent years, going far past their pre-auction estimates. – Ashish Rawat, Royal Touch Group Principal
If you compare the mint green of these tsavorites with the tsavorites seen in Collection 1, you will see how the colour is a lighter and sunnier green, more akin to a spring day than a lush rainforest. The necklace in Collection 3 is set with 42.09 carats of spinel, 44.03 carats of garnet, and 1.76 carats of diamonds, while the bracelet boasts similarly impressive carat weights of 18.87, 28.71, and 1.22, respectively. For a business that is so synonymous with tanzanite, it is wonderful to see such diverse and colourful jewels emerging from the Royal Touch Group. Its Mosaic collection is a beautiful reminder of nature’s power to produce gems in a rainbow of hues, and a tribute to the producing countries that bring these minerals to the market, so they can be enjoyed the world over.
WORDS
Katerina Perez is a jewellery insider, journalist and brand consultant with more than 15 years’ experience in the jewellery sector. Paris-based, Katerina has worked as a freelance journalist and content editor since 2011, writing articles for international publications. To share her jewellery knowledge and expertise, Katerina founded this website and launched her @katerina_perez Instagram in 2013.
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