Deco Fabulous: Tomasz Donocik Channels the 1920s With New Bridal Collection

The tradition of giving engagement rings and exchanging symbols of love to celebrate impending nuptials has existed for many centuries. Typically, therefore, wedding preparations begin with choosing them. Some couples go traditional and select classic solitaire diamond rings while others opt for jewellery with extravagant and trendy designs. If you fall into the second category, then Tomasz Donocik, a British jewellery designer with Polish roots who has just released his first bridal collection, The Moderne Bridal, is for you.

How would you feel about giving your beloved a ring with a design that has not lost its currency in 100 years? Tomasz Donocik has chosen to reinterpret the Art Deco style, which first gained a foothold in design consciousness a century ago and shows no sign of dissipating any time soon.

If you have been following my articles on international auctions closely, then you probably know that Art Deco jewellery is selling predictably well and at a high price. This is for several reasons: its status as a jewellery type with a long history of stable market value; geometric forms that reflect contemporary fashion trends; and an array of recognisable brand names across Art Deco creations. In fact, over the past century alone, Art Deco high jewellery pieces have been created by world-renowned companies such as Boucheron and Chanel, Cartier and Mauboussin.

Art Deco seemed the most obvious style to choose for my first bridal line as it perfectly complemented my other collections. The 1920s was also a time in history when women were liberated, when they had the opportunity to champion their image, go out and enjoy themselves. This bridal collection is for women and to celebrate their moment! says Tomasz.

The designer enjoys explaining the sources of inspiration behind his works, including the Art Deco movement, 1980s fashion, retro-futurism and minimalist paintings by the expressionist artist Frank Stella. If you Google each of these cultural phenomena separately, you will find something in common between them: well-defined geometric shapes. Applying the elegance of his previous work and the chic of the ‘Roaring 20s’, Tomasz has created rings for The Moderne Bridal in 18k gold and platinum with baguette and Asscher-cut diamonds as centre stones. Take a closer look at the photo and you will see all the same geometric lines characteristic of stones of this cut.

With the GRAND TIARA rings, it is easy to spot the pieces that are inspired by the ‘must-have’ jewel for members of royal families when they attend weddings, but also to distinguish the contours of the famous Chrysler Building – an Art Deco skyscraper built in New York on 42nd Street in 1930 by the architect William van Helen. At the time of its construction, this building took first place in the ranking of the city’s tallest buildings, but its significance has not diminished over the years. The Chrysler Building is one of the 10 most beloved architectural structures in the USA, and in 2007 it was awarded the title of the city’s most beautiful building by the Architectural Commission of the City of New York.

From the time the building was constructed until the 1950s, it was the headquarters of the Chrysler automobile corporation, which bought the building, and on the very top floors Walter Chrysler, the owner of the corporation, had extensive apartments. Incidentally, the explosive growth of industry at the end of the First World War was in part responsible for both the birth of the Art Deco style and the construction of the Chrysler Building. This amazing cycle of interconnections, I dare say, is reflected in the design of the CHRYSLER rings, each with a central stone that evokes a car headlight.

Another distinctive feature of this period was the wild Prohibition-era parties and cocktail rings with large bright central stones that acted as a kind of “pass”. An adaptation of this tradition can be found in the asymmetrical EMERALD AND DIAMOND ring with its ‘dancing’ emerald. It took more than six months to create The Moderne Bridal, but despite the fact that the very first and most comfortable items in the collection have already gone on sale, Tomasz continues to work on expanding the line. He comments: “There are more pieces to come and definitely some showstoppers! I am focusing a lot on high-end designs.”

The Moderne Bridal collection by Tomasz Donocik has already proven its ability to carefully preserve history, interpret it symbolically and convey it in a contemporary manner – all terrific qualities for jewellery that is going to last a lifetime!