As the heir to renowned Bond Street jeweler David Morris, Jeremy Morris had his fate more or less set — and he’s glad he did. “I am incredibly lucky, as I was born into my family business,” says the younger Morris, who helms the jewelry house his father started in 1962. “With both my parents so actively involved in the growth of the company, there was no escaping it, really. I’ve inherited my father’s passion for design and find the concept of being able to create something tangible and wearable from one of my drawings really rewarding.”
While he was a shoo-in for his job as managing director at one of the world’s most luxurious jewelers, Morris earned his stripes elsewhere before joining the family trade. After studying fine art in London for five years, he went to apprentice with some well-known jewelers on Paris’s prestigious Place Vendôme, then moved on to an Antwerp diamond supplier to get a better understanding of the gemstone market.
Pursuing bold stones
Big colored gems have been Morris’s passion in life, and the brand has become a famed destination for gemstones of exceptional color.
“On a personal level, I have a passion for contemporary art, and professionally I’m particularly attracted to bold colored gemstones,” he says. He can find inspiration for his jewels just as easily walking his terrier in the park as surrounded by the masters at an illustrious art gallery. “I tend to fall in love with gems that have a deep saturation of color and high luster, but even if I don’t have a particular piece in mind at the time, the stones themselves inspire my designs.”
Morris has spent decades building up a rapport with gem dealers, and as such, there is a cluster of suppliers who will give him first dibs on stones they know he’ll like. “I’ve managed to build strong relationships within the industry, based on trust and loyalty,” he affirms.
Among the latest items from the brand’s workshop on Bond Street — one of the few working jewelry ateliers that remain in the famous London shopping hub — is a pair of earrings titled Neptune. These oceanic beauties boast 85.99 carats of rare black opal, as well as sapphires, diamonds and Paraiba tourmalines. The setting is not gold, but the more fashionable titanium — a sign that this second-generation jeweler is unafraid to innovate even as he stays true to his house’s heritage.
Britain and the world over
Dealing in big stones means having the clientele willing to buy them, and for Morris’s company, the Middle East is still where the major shoppers are. “There is an inherent culture and ethos for jewelry [in the Middle East], more than in many other parts of the world,” he says, noting that David Morris has stores in the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. “They have an appreciation of quality and craftsmanship and of a love for intricate design. We are very fortunate to have developed a strong client base in this region, and many of my designs still reflect this demand.”
While those designs speak to a global outlook, the company tagline is “The London jeweller,” and Morris says the brand’s quintessential Britishness serves it well overseas.
“For us, this means taking inspiration from traditional sources but having total freedom in terms of creativity,” says Morris, who will often spend up to a year searching out the right gemstones to bring his sketches to life. “British culture is such a wonderful breeding ground for imagination and originality — it has spirit and soul. This gives our jewelry an unexpected dynamic element that we believe is typically British, and typically David Morris.”
Image: Jeremy Morris, David Morris davidmorris.com
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2019. To subscribe click here.