We are wearing more rings, bracelets, chains and fancy cufflinks than ever before. Jeweller Stephen Webster is the man who knows why.
Stephen Webster is late for his interview with Gentleman’s Corner. I’m already sitting in his elegantly dishevelled office above Garrard’s on the corner of Grafton and Albemarle Streets, as the man dashes in gushing his apologies. ‘I was having lunch at the Hix restaurant in Soho,’ he says, ‘Mark Hix is a friend of mine and I invested in his new restaurant. I’ve just been eating Webster’s fish fingers with mushy peas, my contribution to the menu.’ Webster’s words pour out in a Cockney clatter – one part Mick Jagger to two parts Michael Caine.
This oddly named, although I’m assured, tasty dish is a perfect emblem of Webster himself – a rough, working class diamond-geezer placed on the high table of London’s smartest jewellery brand. Garrard was founded in 1722 receiving its first royal warrant a mere thirteen years later. It is the oldest jewellers in the world. Webster was named Garrard’s creative director in December 2008, heralding his sexy, rock star aesthetic being introduced to the Royals’ favourite jewellery house. He can be seen, perhaps, as a man blowing some necessary fresh air up the skirts of a fusty old dowager.
Alongside his work for Garrard, Webster keeps his own eponymous line buoyant with new stores and outlets opening and a smart flagship shop around the corner from Garrards on Mayfair’s Mount Street. Yet we’re here to talk about men’s jewellery – a world close to Webster’s heart – hardly a surprise when I see he’s wearing studs in both his ears, an array of solid rings and 3 woven leather bracelets. Yet, the man is no peacock or dandy in his slim fit jeans, chunky boots and black shirt. The hardware looks like something he just happens to be wearing which Webster admits requires confidence. And men are becoming more confident wearing jewellery.
‘Over the past ten years there’s been a massive sea change with men and jewellery,’ he says, ‘men used to make up less than ten percent of our business and now it’s over 20 and growing every year.’ Fortunately for Webster he was at the start of this desire for men to adorn themselves with semi-precious stones and metal. He kicked things off with a collection called Rayman - metal rings and bracelet chains engraved with a shagreen (sharkskin) pattern. Other collections include, ‘London Calling’, based on his chum Paul Simenon from the Clash, and a general nostalgia for London. It uses male-friendly stones such as Spiderman jasper and the iron minderal hematite or blood ore - all materials that Webster labels interesting rather than glamorous and luckily come with names that sit comfortably with the most macho of men.
‘The great thing about men and jewellery, ‘ says Webster, ‘ is that once they get into it, they start collecting and can become obsessed.’ Price point can be a stumbling block for men though, for Webster notes that there are few men who’ll spend more than £2,500 on a jewellery piece for themselves. It’s a price point that few of his women customers baulk at for themselves, however.
There are exceptions, however. An iconic Webster piece is the rock star ring – a raised star of silver encrusted with white pave diamonds and a red garnet etched with the words ‘rock star’ at the sides, as if you might have any doubts to the owner’s self belief. ‘Tommy Perse owner of Maxfield boutique in Los Angeles asked me to make a rock star ring with a ruby, which is so extravagant as much of the stone is lost shaping it into a star,’ says Webster, laughing at the audacity of the order. He needn’t have worried, however, as he next saw his ring on the cover of Rolling Stone decorating the hand of the man himself, Mr Ozzie Osborne. Perhaps the most perfect marriage of Webster’s rocks and rock’n roll.
