Vivienne Westwood never aimed to decorate demure décolletés; she meant to arm them. Her necklace line behaves exactly as one might expect from the house that stapled punk to Savile Row. Chains glimmer with high-society polish yet carry a restless pulse, as though they might start a protest between canapé courses.
Prices begin at roughly £100 for a Mini Bas Relief Pendant and climb towards £255 for the Mayfair Large Orb, a reminder that mischief can be both affordable and aristocratic. Every piece is hand-finished and theatrically lit with crystals that snatch candlelight, even in the murkiest club corner. There is an almost mythic sense of ceremony in fastening one, an act less of adornment and more of assuming a mantle. One clasp at the nape and you are no longer a guest, you are headline material.
These are not baubles for the background. Westwood’s necklaces function as punctuation marks to a personal manifesto. They draw the eye, yes, but more crucially, they draw a line, between the conventional and the uncompromising, between fashion and statement. Wearing one feels like a decision rather than an accessory.
The Orb: Crown Jewel with Cosmic Credentials
The orb, at once coronet and planet, remains the star performer. Introduced in the eighties as a sly rebuttal to rigid heraldry, it fuses the Crown Jewels with Saturn’s rings, pitching tradition towards the stratosphere. It’s the emblem of rebellion disguised as regalia, imperial, irreverent, and impossible to ignore.
On the Mayfair Bas Relief, the emblem is smothered in Swarovski crystal and suspended from a slim rhodium chain, weighing a whisper-light 11.5 grams, the jewellery equivalent of a cutting remark delivered with perfect diction. The chain, though delicate, lends the piece a talismanic gravity; it feels less like jewellery and more like a sigil.
The Mini Bas Relief version shrinks the icon but refuses to tone down the sparkle; its platinum-tinted orb stands just 1.7 cm tall yet signals across a ballroom. It has the audacity of a royal crest scribbled over with lipstick. Wearing one feels like pinning a tiny manifesto to your collarbone: “I respect history, so long as it behaves.”
Pearl Power Without the Powder Room
Pearls at Westwood are never prim. The celebrated Three Row Pearl Bas Relief Choker first stormed the 1990 Portrait collection and still courts drama with strands of hand-knotted beads marshalled around a crystal-drenched orb. It’s a choker that doesn’t whisper refinement, it growls it, then turns on its heel.
Its sister, the Pearl Drop Choker, adds a teardrop pendant that swings with the flair of an opera-goer hailing a midnight cab. The motion is deliberate, seductive, a reminder that elegance doesn’t have to be dull.
Even the Mini Pearl versions, lighter and shorter, carry enough attitude to frighten an entire finishing school. They’re the kind of jewellery that could be inherited, but never tamed. Recent catwalks confirm that updated pearls remain a London calling card, validating Westwood’s knack for turning ladylike staples into subversive trophies.
Pearls here are not tokens of innocence but artefacts of revolt. They belong to the woman who writes thank-you notes in blood-red ink and will not wait for permission to arrive. They’re worn not to fit in, but to remind the room who’s worth watching.
How to Wear Your Rebellion
Styling requires nerve rather than a stylist. A Bas Relief pendant over a white poplin shirt brings boardroom formality to heel; swap the shirt for a shredded band tee and the same necklace reads collector’s heirloom mislaid at a rave. Versatility is its secret weapon: it’s as fluent in minimalism as it is in maximalist mayhem.
The Pearl Choker offsets a slip dress with delicious tension: silk says debutante, orb says delinquent. A satin corset, a pinstripe blazer, or even a wool jumper becomes a staging ground when paired with Westwood jewellery.
Layering is positively encouraged. Try a Mayfair Large Orb lounging beneath a delicate Petra heart for a sartorial dialogue between power and play, or stack pearls with chains to build your own form of aristocratic anarchy. Clash textures, contrast tones, interrupt symmetry.
