Sabine Getty (née Ghanem) grew up in Beirut and Geneva, and studied diamond grading and jewellery design at the Gemological Institute in New York. In 2012 she designed her first piece of jewellery which became the Relic collection, soon stocked in prestigious department stores in New York, Paris and London and seen on celebrities including celebrities such as Emma Watson and Rihanna.  Crafted in fine white, yellow and rose gold and sprinkled with a colourful array of precious stones, Sabine G’s vintage-inspired jewels are handcrafted in Florence. Along with medieval and Art Deco influences, Ghanem has drawn inspiration from the architecture of Rome for her latest collection, Prospero.  Recently married, the London-based designer shares the pieces of jewellery that hold special significance.  Cartier tennis braceletMy father bought me this Cartier diamond tennis bracelet many years ago when I was about 16. It’s very special to me because he gave it to me at a time when we were starting to get much closer. It was such a generous present and my first really grown up piece of jewellery. I had never received a present like it before, I didn’t even know what a tennis bracelet was. You never forget that moment when you feel like you’re a grown up. I wore it every single day for years, and even now whenever I wear it this is always the piece that people comment on. It’s a very simple, pure and beautiful design. It inspired me in my second collection to experiment with lots of different variations of tennis bracelets, but this one is still my favourite.  Relic earringsThese earrings were the first piece of jewellery I ever designed. They're very special to me because that was the first time I took a piece of paper and a pencil and started to draw – to see that come to life into something real is incredible. They were inspired by medieval decorative arts – I had a huge book on the subject and noticed this beautiful engraving on a box of relics, and I started to sketch based on that. This first piece led to a whole collection and that’s why I called it Relic. The singer Celine Dion, who I’m a huge fan of, bought them. Having people like her wear my jewellery is just a dream.  Vintage emerald engagement ringMy engagement ring is from the 1920s and is just amazing – it’s my favourite thing in the world. There’s a famous quote, I can’t remember who said it, that once you have an emerald you fall in love with it and that’s so true. There’s something so mysterious about it. My husband chose it himself – he has great taste. The only thing I said is that I wanted an emerald more than a diamond because emeralds are my favourite stone, and he did the rest. He kind of knew from the style of jewellery I design that I’d like something vintage so he went to SJ Phillips and chose it; it only took him five minutes. He asked his mother for advice and she said “it’s beautiful but it’s a bit grand” and he said “well that’s perfect then”. That’s how he knew it was the one.  Cartier wedding ringMy wedding band is by Cartier, it’s the thinnest one they make. My husband and I chose them together – he has exactly the same one in a larger width. We did a lot of research to find the perfect rings because your wedding ring is really the most meaningful piece of jewellery you can own. Some women choose a diamond band or one with lots of engraving or a white gold one, but I knew that I just wanted a very simple, yellow gold band. My engagement ring is really the showpiece and I didn’t want to distract from it. Plus the wedding band is something that you wear every day, it becomes like a second skin. We got married quite recently and the celebration was amazing. I had the time of my life.  Diamond wedding earringsBefore my wedding my mother gave me a bracelet which I made into a headpiece and some classic diamond earrings. She said you can do whatever you want with them, and I decided to take the diamonds out and rework them into a new pair of earrings. I designed these earrings to match my wedding dress, which I designed with the house of Schiaparelli. The theme of the dress was the sun so I decided to make earrings that looked like sunrays, balls of fire snaking up my ears. They have these beautiful rays that work with the shape of the ear and look very flattering in profile. I often design earrings like this as they’re so flattering to the face. It was like something old and something new in one – the fact that I had used my mother’s diamonds meant so much more than just buying something new.  Sabine G is available at Matches Fashion
From her engagement ring to a teenage gift, London-based jewellery designer Sabine G shares the jewels she holds most dear