Student Category Finalist

Anke van der Linden,
Durban University of Technology

Brooch of platinum, featuring gold plating and a pearl

The customer: A fourth-anniversary gift for Lillian from her husband Nathan. They are both outdoorsy, dynamic millennials who enjoy gardening, hiking and growing organic vegetables to sustain their health-conscious lifestyle.

The design: The brooch is inspired by the gooseberry plant. Traditionally, on the fourth wedding anniversary, fruit and flowers are gifted. A spray brooch resembles a bouquet or branch of flowers or fruit and are made with precious metals and stones. Spray brooches became popular in the Victorian era as gifts of everlasting love. Husbands gifted their wives with spray brooches instead of real flowers which wilt and turn brown. These dazzling brooches became symbols of true love that lasts forever, especially being made in platinum which never dulls or tarnishes. I am fascinated with the shape of gooseberry pods and the airy feel that they have to them, allowing them to dance in the wind. This led me to manufacture my brooch so that it moves with the body and creates hints of sound, rhapsodies.