Keys

Back in the early 80s, when our crosses, snakes and skulls were so popular, I felt a symbol that was nondenominational and had nothing but positive connotations. I was recovering from a minor operation and sitting with paper and a pencil in our old, 16th century house of the time and saw the big, old key sticking out of the ancient oak door and thought how great it looked. Surprisingly, the key had hardly been used in jewellery through the ages except as a symbol of a twenty-first birthday – ‘key to the door’. I worked on a design that would be obviously a key but also be wearable and aesthetically pleasing. Thus our first key was born. That basic shape is one we have used, among many others, ever since and has been the basis of many permutations.