As Michael Coan, an associate professor of jewellery design at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, says: ‘Humans have contemplated, studied and applied these shapes and proportions over the millennia, and they have come to acquire a kind of “divine” importance. So, a cross has a deeply rooted meaning and place in our consciousness – which predates what modern history has assigned to it.’
In other words, the cross was a special shape, common to all humanity, long before records began. And even in its Christian form, its dimensions can reveal more about the wearer – such as to which branch of the religion they belong. A cross made up of two equal lines is associated with Greek Orthodoxy, whereas an elongated ‘post’ with shorter ‘arms’ is part of Western European tradition. And then there is the Maltese version: linked to heraldry and royalty, and the old badge of the Knight Hospitallers, this is the style that is embraced by American jeweller Lauren Harwell Godfrey.
While the four triangles of the Maltese Cross might stir memories of another uber-stylish, influential woman – Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel – who paired her ropes of pearls with a chic cuff bearing the emblem (created for her by Duke Fulco di Verdura), Lauren Harwell Godfrey’s pieces are as much about chi as chic. Their colourful accents of bright pink, orange and yellow sapphire radiate positive energy, representing, she says, ‘the four elements of earth, air, fire and water’. They’re symbols of bravery, too, she adds – picture military medals – and she points out that ‘crux’ (the Latin for ‘cross’) has come to mean ‘a vital, basic, decisive or pivotal point’, standing for empowerment.
New Yorker Eva Fehren would get Harwell Godfrey’s vote. She sees the cross that motivates her X collection (and her brand’s logo) as ‘a symbol of individuality and strength… the shape has always fascinated me’. Fehren’s graphic pendants, bracelets and rings – set with white or black diamonds in either blackened white gold, rose gold, yellow gold or platinum – display ‘balance, symmetry and elegance, and convey both purity and bold toughness’.
Suffering and redemption, innocence and endurance, uniqueness and mystery: the crux of the matter is this – these two lines, intersecting on the perpendicular, have a strange but powerful hold over us. Which is why X truly marks jewellery’s sweetest spot.
This article was first published in Tatler’s Watches and Jewellery Guide 2023, on sale with the December issue
