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Guild Jewellery founder Andrew Ioannou was proud to become a finalist in the 2023 JAA Australasian Jewellery Design Awards.

This was a particularly special achievement as it was our first entry ever into an awards event.

 "Story of My Life" - is a pendant inspired by storytelling and creativity.

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Storytelling shapes humanity. The right book can influence a persons perspective, or motivate them towards a certain goal. This pendant is inspired by 3 stories and their messaging of love, honour, and duty: The Lord of the Rings, Dune, and The Odyssey. They have been studied for decades, and in some cases centuries, to find the deeper meanings that these stories hold for their influence over society as a whole.

Each frame is shaped like a curved page of a book, and each holds a decorative insert that has been inspired by a cover of each respective frame. Finally, the frames are bound together with a gold bail to be hung from a chain.

1st Frame, The Lord of the Rings (written by J R R Tolkien), has the One Ring and two trees (representing the Two Trees of Valinor).

2nd Frame, Dune (written by Frank Herbert), is inspired by the 50th Anniversary Edition of Dune.

3rd Frame, The Odyssey (written by Homer), uses a Greek key pattern found on the book cover of the famous prose translation by T E Lawrence.

The bail, which acts as a binder, is modelled after a minaret window. This was influenced by the book Arabian Nights a.k.a. One Thousand and One Nights.

"Story of My Life" is made from 9ct Yellow, 9ct White, and 9ct Rose Gold.

This pendant is made of 9 different components and each component had to be fully finished by hand before assembly. The decorative inserts that feature in the frames each have a different style of finishing to contrast with each other.

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There are several different finishes on this piece, including high polish, satin, matt, and rhodium plating. The whole pendant is held together with one gold screw that passes through each frame and connects to the thread that is hidden in the bail. The screw also acts as a securing mechanism to the 3 decorative inserts that each frame houses. No solder has been used on this pendant, so the inserts can be replaced, modified or customised without affecting the overall pendant.
You can visit the Guild Jewellery YouTube Channel to watch our Entry Video and a short Making Of video of "Story of My Life".

Message from the creator Andrew Ioannou -

"I'm so proud to stand amongst the incredible talent at the 2023 JAA Australasian Jewellery Awards, and though I did not take home the award, I was honoured to participate in the finals in my first attempt entering the competition.

I would like to thank everyone who voted for my piece in the People's Choice category as well. You support has filled my confidence to the brim and to run over with creativity. This story is just beginning."

Following this, Guild Jewellery plans on remaking this design and offering it as personalised pendant range on our website in the near future.