Creative Process & Renderings

Melville Fine Jewellery's unique jewellery design process is at the heart of every bespoke piece created.

Developed by Nathalie over the years it is now a brand signature, with clients from all over the world seeking out Melville for its' creativity and craftsmanship.

Year of the Dragon

To celebrate Lunar New Year 2024, Nathalie has created a luxurious, undulating dragon pendant design. Capturing the dragon in motion it hints at the fortuitous number 8...

A storyteller at heart, Nathalie brings her creations and journeys through her imagination to life through the art of traditional gouache rendering.

This year's dragon is sumptuously imagined with a white gold body, set with custom-cut baguette rubies, white diamond encrusted fans and a warm, 18ct yellow gold head - playfully chasing it's own tail!

See below for the rendering of Nathalie's Water Tiger brooch, (CNY 2022) - as well as a selection of her other creations.

Rendering the Water Tiger

Nathalie's unique ability to tell stories through jewellery means every process starts with a rich reference of source material - inspired by the client's tastes as well as Nathalie's own sense of style.

Following a consultation, (either in person or remote), Nathalie creates a series of moodboards - enabling her to fully understand each client's personal aesthetic before starting the design process.

Nathalie creates a series of sketches followed by hand illustrated gouache illustrations of the final selection, (her gouache illustration skills are highly sought after in their own right), before the making process begins.

Nathalie also sources all of the raw materials, (unless she is reworking an antique, already existing piece).

This detailed process is documented in a hard back gift book on completion of the piece.