Solange Azagury-Partridge

Jewelry designer Solange Azagury-Partridge was born in London in 1961. She studied at Westminster University, graduating in 1983 with a BA and joint honors in French and Spanish. After school, she worked briefly at London costume jeweler Butler & Wilson. In 1985, she worked for 20th-century antique dealer Gordon Watson, where she fell in love with vintage jewelry.

The self-taught designer’s first foray into jewelry design came in 1987 when, after having failed to find a ready-made engagement ring for herself that she liked, she decided to design her own. The result—an uncut diamond embedded in a simple gold band—was so admired that Azagury-Partridge decided to open her own studio in London in 1990. In 1995, she opened her first shop in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. In 2001, Tom Ford appointed her creative director of Parisian jeweler Boucheron. Azagury-Partridge worked there for three years before returning to London in 2004 to focus on her own brand.

Azagury-Partridge’s jewelry often incorporates unconventional combinations of stones and precious metals, and the inspiration behind her innovative designs ranges from mathematical patterns and the solar system to occult imagery and natural phenomena such as rainbows. In addition to jewelry, Azagury-Partridge occasionally designs home furnishings, such as lighting, furniture, and rugs. In 2003, she was nominated for the Design Museum’s prestigious Designer of the Year award. She is one of just a few contemporary jewelers whose work is exhibited in Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs and in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.