BREAKING
P O L LY
WA L E S
BY LAURA STUDARUS
BACKSTORY: A trained sculptor from the UK who has found her true calling in
fine, handcrafted jewelry
FROM: Los Angeles via London
YOU MIGHT KNOW HER AS: The creator and founding director of her own brand
of regal, stone-encrusted rings, necklaces, and earrings
NOW: Based in Downtown LA and going up against—and beating—the big guys
14
FLOOD
TO HEAR POLLY WALES TELL IT,
THE
LONDON-BORN
ARTIST’S
INTRODUCTION INTO THE WORLD
OF JEWELRY-MAKING WAS AKIN TO
DECIDING TO GET MARRIED AT THE
END OF A BLIND DATE—a swift, dizzying
moment when everything was changed
Angeles. The brand has also launched
forever. A trained sculptor in her hometown of
a wedding line, after becoming a go-
London, Wales found herself frustrated with
to
the obtuse language of the fine art world. She
for alternative pieces to reflect their
began searching for a simpler, more direct
lifestyles in all their day-to-day glory.
way to express herself. Fond of rings, jewelry
seemed like a good place to start.
and what we make is about the idea that
Much has changed since the Polly
Wales brand’s 2010 debut. The designer,
along
with
a
generous
handful
of
employees crucial to the manufacturing
process, moved shop in early 2016
from Stroud in Southern England to Los
for
nontraditional
brides
looking
“I feel that quite a lot of what we do
“I went to an evening course and the
[our jewelry] should make you feel like you
instructor said, ‘You shouldn’t be doing
don’t have to be fantastic to look fantastic
an evening class, you should be doing a
in it,” she says. “For me, there was always
degree,’” Wales says. “By the time I left the
this notion that [to enjoy] glamor, or
first class I had enrolled in a degree course.
things that were wonderful, you had to be
So that was a bit unexpected.”
someone else. You had to be pristine and
Having previously started a degree
proper. I really like that the jewelry I make
in sculpture at the University of Brighton,
can make you feel and look great even
Wales had no desire to spend another three
if you’re just gardening. It’s not about
years in school. A fan of simple solutions, she
jewelry for special moments—it’s about
simply snuck into the second-year cohort of
all the time. It’s good when your hands
a jewelry program at the Royal College of Art
are filthy. When you’re covered in muck,
in London and never left. Looking back on it,
‘Oh, here’s a nice bit of gold jewelry.’ I
Wales calls that piece of practical chutzpah
think that’s why people gravitate toward
a career-defining move—even if she didn’t
it. It speaks to them instead of to some
realize it at the time.
other notion of ladyhood.”
“I somehow got away with that,”
If art is a reflection of the artist’s
she laughs at the memory. “The first-year
soul, then Wales has found success in
course is all about learning technical skills.
her work, which is sure to only grow
So I didn’t really have the foundation—‘the
from this point forward. She laughs at
rules.’ When I did start making jewelry, I
the idea that her life to date could ever
was always making it not knowing what the
be considered traditional. And that’s
restrictions were supposed to be. I think that
just the way she likes it.
had quite a big influence.”
Wales’s work is imbued with a sense of
I first started out on this journey,” Wales
imperfect beauty. Jewels are embedded in
laughs. “So many of them came from the
textured metals, and in the case of her newest
alternative rave culture back in the ’90s
line, the Ourika Collection, piled and layered
in the UK. That’s where my social roots
into stately swirls and stacks. Recently, her
are. It’s quite amusing that I’ve found this
pieces netted the coveted Best in Bridal prize
refined world.”
at the 2016 Couture Design Awards in Las
Vegas, a category that Wales proudly notes
included Tiffany’s and Ivanka Trump.
“My old friends know me from when