How I Got Here: Isabella Hewitt on Turning Life’s Reveries Into Fine Jewelry

By Karen Dybis | February 06, 2025

Isabella Hewitt’s debut fine jewelry collection tells her life story in 16 pieces, reflecting her bohemian upbringing, her strenuous college years, and her design influences such as a sculptural 1970s Jan Ekselius lounge chair.

The collection, Reveries, also pays tribute to Hewitt’s father, whom she describes as her greatest creative inspiration. He died while she was developing the collection, and Hewitt says its dreamlike shapes and textures come from her childhood memories of him and his home.

And what a home it was. When she wasn’t with her mother in London, Hewitt would stay at her dad’s place, an old olive mill in Provence, and spend her days roaming—à la Wuthering Heights—the French countryside. Throughout her Reveries collection, you can see the landscape’s gnarled olive groves, twisting vine roots, and rocky terrain.

You also can see how she took inspiration from Ekselius, the postmodern Swedish designer known for curvy furniture. She uses a twisting, swooping design in her Doux rings, cuffs, and earrings—they are entirely convex and concave, with no flat surfaces.

London-based Hewitt started working on her eponymous fine jewelry brand about two years ago, and it came to market in late 2024. As she works on her jewelry pieces, which also include her first bridal line, her thoughts often drift back to time with her father, the designer says.

Isabella Hewitt Doux ring — *Isabella Hewitt’s inaugural bridal collection, released last month, include this curvy Doux ring ($7,580) in recycled 18k gold with 0.75 ct. pear-shape diamond.*

“My first experience with jewelry came through quiet moments spent with my dad in Soho’s bead shops, collecting fragments of glass, shells, and stone,” says Hewitt. “I remember the fascination I felt when visiting Brighton’s Lanes and encountering Victorian charms—small, detailed objects that seemed to hold entire stories within them.

“These early experiences of collecting, storytelling, and engaging with the natural world have stayed with me and continue to influence the jewelry I design today,” she says.

Hewitt’s educational pursuits also play a significant role in how she works now. She received an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 2014 and a master’s in philosophy and law a year later, both from England’s University of Bristol.

She then became a part-time student in art history at the University of Oxford, specializing in Renaissance-era miniaturist paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and goldsmithing. In the evenings, Hewitt studied at Gem-A, the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, where she earned a diploma in gemology and was named a fellow in 2018.

Isabella Hewitt earrings — *The Roue earrings ($4,460) are like little sculptures, Hewitts says, with a heavily textured surface that ensures no two earrings are exactly alike.*

Hewitt says this blend of academic rigor and hands-on product development shaped the way she approached design. She knew she wanted to work in fine jewelry, as opposed to demi-fine or costume.

“I think my background in philosophy and law continually brings me back to deciphering what it is I’m actually trying to achieve in a landscape of fashion and luxury that can often be so vast and fickle—it kind of helps me to keep me critical about what I’m doing here,” she says.

Hewitt’s entry into the jewelry trade came with a 2016 internship in Christie’s jewelry department. Her timing was impeccable, as she got to work on the May 2016 auction of the Oppenheimer Blue diamond, a stone that captivated her.

Subsequent employment at two luxury jewelry houses, Garrard and Stephen Webster, introduced her to the intricacies of jewelry design and high-end manufacturing and taught her more about the innermost workings of fine jewelry.

Hewitt worked in product development, sourcing stones. At Garrard, she dealt with the 118.18 ct. Garrard Jubilee sapphire, the largest stone of that quality she’s ever held.

Isabella Hewitt ring — *Hewitt also makes the Doux ring ($1,688) without a diamond, as well as a Doux cuff ($6,095).*

“I loved the intimacy of the purchase and that each piece felt like a lasting conversation between the craftsman and the wearer—a piece to be treasured and that holds meaning,” she says. “My time there gave me a profound respect for precision and quality control.”

Now, as her own jewelry creations go out into the world, Hewitt says she feels like she has found a way to bring art, nature, and her father’s spirit into the daily work she does.

“I think I always loved the sentimentality of jewelry,” Hewitt says. “Isabella Hewitt is about creating jewelry that is not only beautiful but also meaningful—I want my jewelry to transcend fleeting trends.”

Top: Isabella Hewitt says her influences of art and nature stem from a childhood split between urban and rural residences. (Photos courtesy of Isabella Hewitt)