Coloured gemstones are finding a stronger place in contemporary men’s jewellery, bringing personality, provenance, and a new sense of freedom to a category once dominated by restrained precious-metal designs. Lawrence Mark, founder and creative director of L’or Ensé, explains why Zambian emeralds, Mozambique Paraíba tourmalines, and meticulous hand craftsmanship are central to his approach.
YLA: You’ve chosen to champion coloured gemstones in men’s jewellery at a time when the category is evolving rapidly. What do gemstones allow men to express that traditional precious metals alone cannot?
Lawrence: For me, metal speaks to form: proportion, weight, and the way a piece sits and moves. Colour speaks to mood. A stone carries a temperature, an energy, and sometimes even a story about where it was formed that metal alone cannot convey.
Men’s jewellery has long been coded as either purely functional – a signet ring or plain band – or absent altogether. But that is relatively modern. Look back through history, and you find extraordinary displays of colour in men’s jewellery.
A carefully chosen coloured gemstone gives a man a way to say something personal without saying it loudly. It is not decoration for its own sake, but a glimpse of inner character worn on the outside, which is really the premise of L’or Ensé.
YLA: Every gemstone has its own character. Do you begin with the stone and let it dictate the design, or do you first imagine the piece and then search for the perfect gem?
Lawrence: It can go either way. Sometimes it starts with a beautiful stone. Once you understand its nuances, the challenge becomes showing it to its best advantage while also considering the setting and protecting the stone itself.
At other times, a design begins with movement and the way a piece catches the light. Then the gemstone may enhance that movement rather than become the centre of attention.
Design is intricate and simple at once. You need the confidence to experiment, but also the tenacity to keep refining until the proportion, colour, movement, and stone all work together. That process can be frustrating and immensely rewarding in equal measure, but the tension is part of what makes it worthwhile.
YLA: As a designer and maker, what does hand craftsmanship still mean to you? Which part of creating a piece simply cannot be replaced by technology or automation?
Lawrence: My first real craft was carpentry and joinery, long before jewellery, so I have always loved traditional craftsmanship: learning to work a natural material by hand and knowing when to bring in a machine and when not to.
Technology has its place. I use it for precision, repeatability, and the parts of the process that benefit from being exact. But when a stone is being set or a surface finished by hand, you are relying on judgement that a machine does not have.
It is about knowing when a facet is catching the light exactly right, or when enough texture has been added before it becomes too fussy. Those decisions happen in the moment, by feel. They also give a piece some of its soul. A hand-finished surface carries tiny traces of the decisions made by the person who created it, and there is beauty in that.
YLA: The finest jewellery often reveals its quality in the details that only the wearer notices. What finishing touches or techniques are you most proud of, even if they aren’t immediately visible?
Lawrence: The inside of a ring, the underside of a setting, the way a clasp closes – these are the parts nobody photographs, but they are what you experience every day when you wear the piece.
I care a great deal about how jewellery sits against the skin: whether an edge has been polished properly all the way through, or whether a channel is finished as cleanly on the inside as it is on the outside.
It takes longer and costs more, but that is the difference between a piece that photographs well and one that earns its place as a daily companion.
YLA: Collectors are increasingly interested in provenance, individuality, and longevity. How do you ensure that every L’or Ensé piece feels like something that will still be treasured decades from now?
Lawrence: It starts with balance. The design must look and feel right at first glance because good proportion does not date in the way trends do.
Then there is material integrity. Every piece is made from 100 per cent recycled precious metals, while our gemstones are ethically and transparently sourced. That gives the piece a considered story behind it as well as a beautiful one in front of it.
Individuality matters too. We design pieces to enhance who someone already is rather than turn them into somebody else. Jewellery built around a person’s own character tends to remain meaningful long after a trend-led piece has been put away.
YLA: You’ve used Zambian emeralds extensively in the Rivet collection. What drew you to them?
Lawrence: Consistency was an important consideration. When I was sourcing emeralds, I found it increasingly difficult to secure Colombian stones consistently in the grade I wanted. Zambian emeralds allowed me to maintain the quality and character I was looking for across the collection.
They also have a depth and richness of colour that works particularly well with the Rivet designs. I am very interested in stones with a strong identity of their own, rather than simply being treated as an embellishment.
I am also working with some exceptional Mozambique Paraíba tourmalines at the moment, which open up a completely different conversation around colour.
YLA: Looking ahead, where do you see men’s fine jewellery going? Are collectors becoming more adventurous with coloured gemstones and bespoke commissions, or will understated pieces always have the strongest appeal?
Lawrence: I don’t think it is an either/or. Men are becoming more confident about expressing themselves through jewellery generally, and that confidence opens the door to colour.
Bespoke is absolutely part of that shift. Once someone understands that a piece can be built around a particular stone or a story that is specific to him, it becomes much harder to return to something entirely off the shelf.
I think the next decade of men’s fine jewellery will be far more adventurous in colour and material than we have seen for a very long time. As a designer, that is incredibly exciting.
