In The Business Of Love

Jewellery designer Chupi Sweetman held an elegant lunch last week, at The Grayson in Dublin, to celebrate a sparkling ten years in business. A business that her mother and role model – writer, feminist and founding member of the Irish Women’s Movement, Rosita Sweetman – describes as “an overnight success that took a decade”!

Now a team of 50 across Ireland and the UK, Chupi recently received an investment injection of €3.75m. Sweetman is marking the milestone with a rebrand – including peachy-pink packaging and a new logo – plus a collection called One in a Trillion, which is their most sustainable to date; Chupi is working towards B.Corp certification. Having started in gold-plated jewellery, Chupi has now transitioned to specialise in fine jewellery – solid gold, precious stones and diamonds, either sustainably sourced or lab-grown. The collection features one of their most iconic rings recast with lab-grown stones, as well as new designs. Pieces in white or solid 14k gold include a Solitaire Lab Diamond Necklace (€989) and Lab Diamond Earrings (€1389), up to a startling Pink Lab Diamond Engagement Ring (€28,789).

In some ways, jewellery has often been about marking moments valuable in men’s eyes – engagements, weddings, celebrations. Many women might have worn a ring their entire life which they didn’t choose or even particularly like. Now, when it comes to engagement rings, over half of customers now choose rings together, says Sweetman.

“We are in the business of love, but also the rest of life’s journey,” notes Sweetman, as she talks about the increasing number of women buying themselves a piece of jewellery to mark a key moment in their life. And not just celebrations: it could embody a job change, a milestone, a loss, a divorce. “It’s about marking not just the perfect moments, the celebrations – but also the loss; the complexities of women’s lives, captured in jewellery. We want to mark love, loss, resilience, strength – it’s about telling people’s stories.”

For me, most intriguing are the grey diamonds – as seen in the Hope is Magic Twig Band Grey Diamond Ring ring (from €849), and stud earrings (€589) – which offer a uniquely chic way of wearing something sparkly, somehow low-key yet precious. Sweetman also notes that champagne-coloured diamonds are a good buy now, as they may not be available for much longer. With jewellery, she says, you’re owning something to live on past you – an heirloom that’s lasting.

Chupi’s ring stack.

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I haven’t worn my engagement ring and wedding rings for some time now, apart from on a long necklace – your fingers change shape and size as you get older, or have children, and my rings need resizing; Chupi admits that this is on her own to-do list, too. Her recommendation for this job? Greenes on Aungier Street (www.greenesjewellers.com).