PRESS RELEASE: Octi SS26: The Rocks

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Octi captures fragments of nature and translates them into precious metals. Nature is always in flux, shaped by erosion, delay and human interaction. The work preserves these moments in time by turning them into jewellery – one of the most long lasting, sentimental types of objects that exist.

Observing how patterns and textures within nature repeat themselves in different locations and on different scales – showing how everything is connected. Octi then repeats interpretations of these onto the jewellery – inviting the wearer to become part of this collective connection.

The collection

The collection is an exploration of rocks – from pebbles to gemstones. Some pieces use castings of smaller rocks as a way of bringing parts of large landscapes to the wearer’s scale. Others are interpretations of these vast terrains, shown through pattern, texture, colour and gemstones. Each piece then becomes a mini, wearable world.

The earth is made up of all kinds of rocks, many of which are not considered to be of value. Casting these into precious metals is a way of celebrating them and bringing them into the same world as gemstones – a pairing of two elements which are versions of themselves, but often considered separate.

The rocks have been carefully selected from the UK’s Jurassic coast, for their shape and ability to transform into rings, chains, pendants and earrings that will sit comfortably on the body.

The presentation

For the debut show, you are invited to explore the world of the brand through a sensory, immersive experience. The space becomes a unique kind of natural environment, formed of three different islands – each with it’s own climate, differentiated through colour palette and scent, but connected through pattern and jewellery. Each island has it’s own inhabitant, interacting with their environment in their own way.

The scale of both the jewelry and the landscapes it has been derived has been played with to create a universe that feels familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

In addition to the three islands, a film takes you through this world from the perspective of a tiny person navigating each landscape – a universe where the jewellery is as vast as the terrains that inspired it.

The Film

The film is taken from the point of view of someone walking around a world where the scale of the jewellery is as vast as the landscapes.They begin their journey on the damp, rocky Jurassic island. Where they discover jewellery embedded in the ground like fossils and sitting statuesquely on top of the rock formations. They walk on through the green island – a damp lush, green forest, where the jewellery can be seen at a distance, shining through the branches. A chain of large silver rocks leads them into the desert, an island where the jewellery creates monolithic sculptures in the sand. The film challenges the typically small scale of jewellery, while emphasising the concept that patterns and textures within nature are always repeating themselves on micro and macro scales.The film set can be seen on the table by the screen.

The Jurassic Island

The Jurassic Island takes its cue from the landscapes of the Jurassic Coast – the muse behind The Rocks collection, renowned for its unique rock formations and rich fossil heritage.

The Island has been created with its own kind of unique rock formations – chains of rocks hang above rocky mounds, puddled with a patterned liquid and studded with a selection of ‘fossils’ including jewellery and metallic rocks and oversized ears, sculpted by Lucy Page.

Other formations in collaboration with Ebb Collective merge rock with metal - a material connection that also informed the collection. The metal has been sculpted to echo the irregular line work often appearing in the jewellery, adorned and topped with rocks, emulating living matter such as vines and fungi.

Above these hangs a giant Octi ring – a play on scale that makes the jewelry as large as the rocks and water pools, from which its pattern was inspired by. The inhabitant of this island is fascinated by this treasure, and is curious about what other fossils lie beneath the surface.

This island is scented by Malin + Goetz Bergamot.

The Green Island

The green island is lush and verdant – an immersion of rich greenery, alive with fresh flora. It’s a damp, fresh environment emulating the watery feel of the jewellery and colour palettes of many of the gemstones.

Within this island sit rocks, draped in moss that has grown in the pattern found throughout much of the jewellery and echoed across the other islands – linking all three together.

The inhabitant of this island exists amongst the greenery, using the rocks to rest and look out over the surrounding islands.

This island is scented by Malin + Goetz Cannabis.

The Floating Desert

In the floating desert is an island created from deconstructed rock formations, floating statically in space. They are frozen in time, in the same way that the casting process used to make the collection, captures smaller rocks as moments in time. Both contexts also expose individual rocks in a way that fully reveals their unique forms and textures.

Standing alongside is a monolithic sculpture created in collaboration with Ebb Collective. Large rock forms support printed matter composed of layered imagery, combining Ebb’s image collages with visuals of the jewellery. The creation process involves fragmenting photographs and layering them like strata, before taking them through repeated cycles of distortion to generate textured, evolving prints.

This repetition of pattern and texture reflects the approach behind the jewellery, forging a material and conceptual connection between the two practices, as well as connection to the origin of the rocks themselves.

Beneath this lies warm sand being drawn out in the Octi pattern, by the island’s inhabitant. It reveals the concrete floor beneath it – another meeting of manmade and natural materials.

This island is scented by Malin + Goetz Dark Rum.