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Jewelry With a Rock ‘n’ Roll Aesthetic Heads to Sotheby’s London
Next week, the auction house will kick off a selling exhibition of jewelry by British artist Hannah Martin and Coldplay’s Guy Berryman.
The “A Vanitas” diamond pieces pictured above will be exhibited and available for sale from July 28 to Sept. 5 at Sotheby’s London.
London—Sotheby’s London is gearing up to exhibit a capsule collection designed by British jeweler Hannah Martin in collaboration with Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman.
Beginning July 28, the auction house will display new variations of the designs in the artists’ “A Vanitas Stoned” collection.
The selling exhibition will feature expanded designs, such as chain necklaces and earrings made in 18-karat yellow gold with pavé diamonds.
Beginning July 28, the auction house will display new variations of the designs in the artists’ “A Vanitas Stoned” collection.
The selling exhibition will feature expanded designs, such as chain necklaces and earrings made in 18-karat yellow gold with pavé diamonds.
The “Dog Tag” earring with diamonds from the “A Vanitas Stoned” collection takes inspiration from a detail found in the early dog tags worn as identification.
The “Razor Dog Tag” pendant with diamonds is designed to be worn alone or layered.
The A Vanitas line, launched by the jewelry designer and musician in 2023, draws inspiration from the 17th-century Vanitas genre of Dutch still-life paintings that were meditations on the fleeting quality of life.
A combination of Martin’s rebellious-meets-refined aesthetic and Berryman’s form-meets-function approach, the collection’s stylized razor blade motif is meant to symbolize the fragility of life.
The designs, which also include a dog tag earring and a razor dog tag pendant, are “a call to arms to make the most of every living moment,” Sotheby’s said.
Prices for the new diamond pieces range from £1,490 to £50,700 ($2,010 to $68,400).
Martin, a graduate of Central Saint Martins who’s been designing for two decades, and Berryman, who has been with Coldplay since the late ‘90s, met a few years ago on a flight from Los Angeles to London when she noticed the bassist wearing one of her early designs.
The two connected, and Berryman shared that he was considering expanding into jewelry for Applied Art Forms, the Amsterdam-based contemporary clothing brand he founded in 2020.
A Vanitas is a collaboration born of the artists’ mutual respect for “elevated design and meticulous craftsmanship,” Sotheby’s said.
“The essence of A Vanitas blends heritage with avant-garde elements inspired by the Dutch Vanitas tradition,” said Martin.
“With a vision to infuse heirlooms with defiance, I aim to craft pieces that are historically rooted yet rebellious—fresh and charged with contemporary spirit. When Guy and I began this creative journey, we sought to create objects that not only adorn but also ignite conversations about the beauty of seizing the moment.”
Each piece made for the collection is designed for all, the brands said.
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The A Vanitas Stoned Collection recently debuted in Hong Kong, featuring limited-edition pieces accented with sapphires.
“With A Vanitas receiving such acclaim at its debut in Hong Kong, there was an immediate desire from Hannah, Guy and Sotheby’s to revisit this outstanding project in one of our galleries, and London felt like the best fit, especially given Coldplay’s touring schedule,” said Paul Redmayne, senior vice president for luxury sales of Sotheby’s.
“Working with those two wonderfully original artists again has been a pleasure, finding a new way to grow the A Vanitas story with exquisite new pieces shown for the first time worldwide as part of this showcase. Hannah’s bold and iconoclastic approach to jewelry design is brilliantly rendered across both the brand-new creations and the A Vanitas Stoned collection, which was only ever seen in Hong Kong, making its European debut at Sotheby’s London.”
The A Vanitas diamond designs and some of Martin’s other creations will be available for purchase at Sotheby’s London salon on the ground floor through Sept. 5.
The capsule collection will be displayed alongside the original yellow gold and pearl pieces that launched her collaboration with Berryman in 2023.
A selection of pieces also will be available for sale on the Sotheby’s website.
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