Jewelry Insider: Vicki Sarge

Together, Karen Erickson and Vicki Sarge have created custom baubles for Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, accessorized Madonna and Michelle Obama, and claim to have coined the term “chandelier earring” in the ’80s. Consequently, Sarge—who lives in London but was raised in Detroit—is justified in likening their jewelry house, Erickson Beamon, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, to a rock ’n’ roll megaband. “And I just felt it was time for my solo album,” she says.

Launching this month with a flagship boutique in Belgravia, Vicki Sarge is all about exquisite, eccentric, and art-driven pieces. Case in point: the surrealist mask, mouth, and fingertips that made their debut in W’s May cover story, shot by Tim Walker and starring Tilda Swinton. Among the eclectic themes Sarge has recently dreamed up are Baroque Klimt (chunky gold leaf chokers), Pre-Raphaelite Folk (silver headpieces strung with soft-pink stones), and African Deco Punk (wooden earrings with tribal-mask accents, above, parts of which were hand-carved in Kenya). Wanting to explore new techniques, Sarge plans to work with artisans from different parts of the world. For a collaboration with Mario Testino’s charity, MATE, she had a braided rope necklace with multicolor pom-poms created in Peru. “People want extraordinary,” she says. “They can get cute little stuff anywhere.”

Portrait: Claire Lawrie; jewelry: courtesy of Vicki Sarge