Childhood memories, imperial romance and the quiet intrigue of hidden places.
Some pieces of jewellery are designed to be admired. Others hold something a little more private: a memory, a message, a sentiment known only to the person wearing them. For jewellery designer Monika Ruggerino, these intimate connections are the starting point for Secret Garden, a collection that brings together childhood nostalgia, historical romance and the pleasure of keeping a little something to ourselves.
The inspiration begins with a much-loved childhood story. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden was the first chapter book Monika‘s mother read aloud to her. In a rather lovely coincidence, they finished the book on the very day the 1993 film adaptation arrived in cinemas. Its atmospheric imagery, mysterious gardens and sense of melancholy stayed with her, along with the idea that somewhere, hidden from the rest of the world, there might be a place entirely our own.
Years later, another story captured her imagination, this time during her travels in Vienna.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, affectionately known as Sisi, was celebrated for her beauty and famously uncomfortable with the restriction...