Etsuko Sonobe’s elegant jewellery is imbued with characteristic simplicity and order. Her linear and geometric metal forms enhance the beauty of semi-precious stones and pearls in combinations that transcend our preconceived notions of their inherent beauty. ‘My approach to jewellery-making is to reduce each element to its minimum, purposely stripped of ornamentation.  My intention is to capture the essence in a simple form… I believe a pure form can evoke essential meanings.’ 

Etsuko Sonobe was born in Tokyo in 1955 and studied jewellery design at Musashino Art University from 1974 to 1976. Since then, her work has been exhibited in group and solo shows worldwide and can be seen in public collections such as the Marzee Collection, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. She was awarded the Marzee Prize in 2009.