COMPANY PROFILE
Deon Smith Jewellery
Capetonian jewellery designer Deon Smith is surrounded by the extraordinary and diverse natural beauty of the Cape, so it’s not surprising at all that this is his main source of inspiration. In particular, the unique and diverse plants and flowers of the Cape Floral Kingdom and Fynbos are celebrated in his Botanical Collection launched two years ago.
Sustainability is a key feature of this collection of wood and silver jewellery.
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Silver - recycled from damaged antique silverware - is combined with woods indigenous to southern Africa which are ethically sourced from sustainable plantations or, in some instances, from branches broken off trees during stormy winter weather. With a percentage of each sale donated to local conservation projects, Deon also aims to raise awareness of the vulnerability and risk of extinction that many Fynbos plants are facing due to expanding urbanisation, agricultural practices, and the commercial introduction of hybrid species.
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The central pieces of this collection are sculptural, bold, and entirely handcrafted. The designs are cast from hand carved wax models of the plants. They are about half-life size and show great botanical detail. In addition, the intricate back plates of the pendants and brooches are cut by hand and not by laser. The supporting wooden discs have a natural and durable finish.
For this collection Deon used African Blackwood, Red Ivory wood, Wild Peach and the Silver Tree wood, which is unique to Cape Town’s Table Mountain.
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This Botanical Collection has attracted a lot of international attention. Deon was invited to exhibit his jewellery at the Milano Jewelry Week in October 2022 and has since been invited to participate in the Florence Biennale 2023. His designs have also been featured in several fashion and jewellery publications, notably the FAB Jewels catalogue of the Milano Jewelry Week, the New Designer Profile section of British Vogue, as well as front cover of the Autumn issue of the JZA magazine.