Natural Diamonds at Your Fingertips: Sustainable & Bejeweled Manicures
London-based jewelry designer Jessie Evans created reusable natural diamond nail charms for your next manicure.
One of the best forms of self-care is a manicure, or even treating yourself to a special natural diamond jewel. London-based designer Jessie Evans of fine jewelry brand Jessie V E combined the two and turned her favorite form of self-care into a marketable and sustainable design: infinitely reusable natural diamond manicures. Only Natural Diamonds spoke with Evans on how this design came to be, the trial and error that accompanied it, and what sustainability means to her.
Evans launched Jessie V E in 2015 as a creative outlet from her full-time job, but within the first 3 months of the brand’s launch, her popularity and demand rose leading Evans to quit her job. “I always loved jewelry from a young age. If ever the chance to make a wish arose for me as a kid, birthday candles, a dandelion, etc., I’d wish for a diamond ring,” Evans tells Only Natural Diamonds. “I studied jewelry and silversmithing at university and worked under fine jewelry designer Elizabeth Gage who showed me the ropes of the industry,” she said.
Evans’s inspiration for creating diamond nail art comes from her sheer love of getting a good manicure. “I’ve been getting fun manicures and nail art regularly for years as I often have to photograph my hands for social media posts,” she explained. Evans noticed that the nail art industry was booming, despite the rising costs of living. “I surmised that people must feel the same as me in the ritual and haven of a nail appointment, which is a little piece of joy and an act of self-care in our busy and hectic lives,” she said. “A moment which is ever important in tough times.” She asked herself, “What if I could combine the self-care aspect, affordability, sustainability, and exclusive luxury in one product?”
Evans told OND that the concept of creating reusable diamond nails was an organic one. “I developed the nail charms and application/removal process with my nail tech Abby over a few months until we had the perfect recipe for robust and beautiful nail accents that can last a lifetime,” she said, assuring that the gold and diamonds are unaffected by acetone and the removal process of manicures. Each kit comes with clear instructions that you can take to your nail tech or follow at home. Evans adds, “As they say, a diamond is forever, so the idea that it can be removed and reapplied infinitely is a real game changer.” The fine jewelry nail charm sets range from $90-$300.
Applying the natural diamond manicure charm sets. Courtesy of Jessie V E.
“The stars aligned,” Evans said when discussing how these diamond manicures came to be. The stars are important to Evans–the constellations have always served as inspiration for her, specifically the human perspective. How humans perceive the stars in astrology is what formed her “Constellation” collection. “Inspiration for my collections can include anything from fortune-telling, self-care, and feminism to architecture, secret codes, and the sentimentality of the past,” she said, emphasizing the human interpretation of each, to be specific.
Evans initially launched the diamond manicure set for the bridal and wedding market, believing it would be the perfect touch of sparkle for the big day. However, jewelry lovers soon caught wind of this ingenious adornment. “We’ve been absolutely blown away by the response and the amount of people who’ve bought them ‘just because’ and to wear as daily diamonds,” Evans said.
When it comes to the materials, there was never a doubt in Evans’ mind to use all-natural stones as compared to rhinestones, which are intended for one-time usage and traditionally made of glass which is not biodegradable. “The magic of natural stones that the earth has made over millions of years is just too special to me to compare!” she remarked when talking about the popular nail art alternatives.
“Like any fine jewelry piece, the diamond nail charms are recyclable and reusable,” she said. Adding, “These charms can be used to make jewelry pieces in the future should people want to. So there’s a double meaning to the ‘infinitely reusable’ tagline of these nail charms.”
