Celebrity jewellery artist Maria Tash says piercing has gained luxury status
Celebrities’ go-to artist Maria Tash explains the beauty of piercing and body jewellery – and she’s coming to Lane Crawford this month
A-listers’ go-to piercing artist Maria Tash is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets. Tash’s got a stellar clientele including Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Hudson. The expert jeweller will be in town for private appointments at Lane Crawford from April 5 to April 17.
We had a chat with Tash to find out about some of her favourite styles ahead of her Hong Kong visit.
Tell us about your design philosophy.
My signatures are small and precise rings and thin threaded backed studs that can be worn continuously in multiple lobe piercings.
My jewellery design inspiration comes from a variety of sources. Sometimes it is old pieces I collected in my youth that I remake and improve with new metals. Sometimes inspiration comes from museum exhibits – like the MET’s Jar jewellery exhibit where I really saw how black rhodium over rubies or blue diamonds was impressive. I also love intricate granulation found in vintage Indian pieces. I really enjoy trying to find ways to suspend diamonds without obvious settings – so I’m exploring new technologies to create ways to securely attach invisible set diamonds. And then I combine those invisibly suspended diamonds with movement, via laser drilled diamonds. I also take inspiration from other brands that are experimenting with blue and purple rhodium plating. I think mixing historic [elements] and new technology is artistic fun, and the result is a piece of jewellery that has never been seen before.
What’s a piece in your collection that you wear the most yourself?
I wear the diamond tassel helix cuff daily. I love that it incorporates both pear and round diamonds, delicate milgrain engraving around each stone, and that there is a lot of movement to the piece. It is not overwhelming to my hair or any apparel choice but it is noticeably unusual.
How has the culture of body jewellery evolved since you joined the business? Are people incorporating the jewellery into their wardrobe differently these days?
In the 1990s, when I started in the business, the main type of jewellery that was available was industrial looking, steel, thick rings with beads as the closure mechanism. It was a different type of look then, that was heavy and not that beautiful. I started, with the popularity of navel piercing, working on getting pieces to look like they were glued on to the body and fit properly. This meant working on developing different curvatures to different lengths of posts for navels and then working on elaborate ends for the posts.