JEWELLERY and the rock n’ roll lifestyle might not be traditionally related, but genius designer Cole Sams is bridging that gap.
From unusual engagement rings to bespoke creations workshopped to the exact needs of the wearer, Cole can count quirky stars like Paloma Faith as fans of his label.
Pillow Magazine’s Faye Smith finds out more about this quirky creative.
NOT many jewellery designers can boast they have opened for Pete Doherty’s band Babyshambles – but musician and designer Cole Sams just happens to be one of those people.
Cole’s story starts as a teenager – when he was both studying accessory design, and playing in a garage rock band called The Rips – and doing rather well at both.
He said: “Being born in the eighties, I caught the tail end of a great era of music.”
Cole Sams
And music was in the family – his parents always listened to great tunes, and he recalls performing with his siblings when they were small children. ”I would be dressed-up performing in binliner dresses designed by my sisters. I still like the art of performance. And dressing up!”
But school didn’t give him the right outlet to express his artistic ability. Cole explained: ”I have always been a creative person but at school I found it hard to express this creativity.”
Therefore, at the age of fifteen, he left in order to take up an apprenticeship in jewellery design.
“Jewellery design offered me an opening. There was no curriculum, no right or wrong answer. Just design. I liked how beautiful things were created in a dark, windowless workshop. I liked the irony of that. I was inspired.”
Cole, lead singer of The Rattlesnake Code, is also an outstanding musician. He stormed a sold-out gig with The Inspiral Carpets at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire and was handpicked by Pete Doherty and his band Babyshambles as a support act with his previous band The Rips.
But when Pillow asked Cole which plays more of a major role in life with regards to jewellery and music, he simply answered, ‘They go hand in hand, they are both a huge part of my life.”
And now it is he who inspires the rest of us. As a London-based designer with one-of-a-kind creations, Cole Sams told Pillow Magazine that his pieces “Range from elegant, delicate pieces to (on his madder days) something strangely bizarre.”
He likes to create pieces that are a combination of all types: “The everyday-ordinary turned extraordinary.”
The majority of Cole Sams’ pieces are engagement and wedding rings which vary from diamond to unusual patterned pieces. The intricate detail on each ring is specialised for that one ring which makes your purchase exceptional.
Cole explained why wedding rings are his speciality: “I love how weddings are becoming more and more unique. Couples are breaking away from the traditional format and I can make their wedding jewellery reflect that.
“A wedding ring is a token of love and no-two people love the same so why should their rings be the same. I like being involved in the wedding process, meeting the couple, getting to know them and a feel for what they really want.”
With this modern independence from tradition, Cole came up with the idea of Bespoke, a part of his business where the vivid thought of a jewellery piece can become a unique reality.
Visit Cole’s official website at www.colesams.com, follow him on Twitter @cole_sams and follow him on Myspace at myspace.com/colesams.
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