The Man Who Never Dies

Hannah Martin’s hard-edged but refined jewelry collections each conjure different personalities, from pirates to Russian oligarchs to Turner and Chas, the rock star and gangster protagonists of Nicolas Roeg’s 1968 film Performance. For her latest, seen today in photographs by Joss McKinley shot at the Lullingstone Castle in Kent, Martin focused on the shadowy Comte de St. Germain, who over the centuries has fascinated notable figures including Madame de Pompadour, Giacomo Casanova and Alexander Pushkin. Described by Voltaire as “a man who never dies and knows everything” (a quote that inspired the name of Martin's new work), the 18th-century count was reported variously to be an adventurer, diplomat, inventor, and alchemist who had discovered the elixir of life. “I was looking at Masonic imagery, occultism, and the idea of shamanism and it being almost an hallucinatory experience to look at this jewelry,” says Martin. At the series’ launch last Thursday evening at Dover Street Market, design guru Moritz Waldemeyer constructed a large black obelisk surrounded by lasers to showcase Martin’s iconic pyramid-shaped ring (a "virtual" version of which can be tried for size on her website), the centerpiece of her magical new offerings.

Photography Joss McKinley
Styling Anders Solvsten Thomsen
Grooming Dorita Nissen
Hair Takeshi Katoh
Model Jose Wickert at AMCK models
Production Nathan Morse