Adawnment
Christmas shopping can be a bit of a chore, but with just over a week to go, if you’re still looking for that perfect gift, I may be able to help.
A few years ago I was having coffee with a friend. As we sipped our cappuccinos I commented on the beautiful ring she was wearing. I’m not normally a jewellery person, but this ring comprised two silver horse shoe nails twisted together and it made a surprisingly clever and elegant piece. She said that it had been designed by Adawnment and told me where she’d bought it from and I duly filed the information away. Like I said, I’m not really a jewellery person.
A few months later, I was at the CTICC taking in the CTS draft, when just at the entrance to the stable area, I saw the most beautifully elegant stand and it turned out to be Adawnment. As I like to think that the universe sometimes has a sense of humour and arranges these little coincidences for a reason, I stopped in and introduced myself. Dawn was manning the stand, we got chatting and she showed me some of her pieces. I bought one of course and have been promising to write about Adawnment for some time, but we’ve never quite got our timing right until just recently and with Christmas coming up, it seemed like a good time to tell their story.
How it all began
Dawn and Lauren Smorenburg
Adawnment Jewellery is the brainchild of Dawn Smorenburg and her daughter Lauren. The competitive riding community will recognise the name instantly as Dawn spent many years as one of the big names on the local show-jumping circuit, before suffering a very serious fall off her horse, Smart Move, coming down the bank in the Dunhill Derby.
Dawn is not someone given to self-pity, but says frankly that the accident left her struggling to concentrate and do the things she’d normally taken for granted. She was angry and frustrated over the hand that fate had dealt her for a while and then decided, rather pragmatically that she could either choose to be angry, or choose to pick herself up and get on with things. She chose the latter. She signed up for a course in oil painting and was rather surprised at the creativity that suddenly poured out.
When one door closes
Adawnment – Asfara range
Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Dawn was still unsure what to make of her newfound talent while on holiday to India. Dawn had first gone to India on a show-jumping trip and fell in love with the country, returning several times. On this particular trip, she found herself picking up stones and gems and had amassed a fair collection by the time she got home. On a whim, she decided to fashion them into jewellery and so Adawnment was born.
The original range – dubbed Asfara – was born from a love for the colour and vibrancy of India and her fascination for the elephants. With the support and encouragement of close friend Jenny Bechet, Dawn held her first small exhibition, which was such a success that she decided to expand her work.
More collecting trips to India followed and she created a range of jewellery with the safari industry in mind. It is heavily animal themed, with beautifully crafted metal work and of course her hand-picked gemstones. “It was the early days of this sort of thing and there were only a handful of us doing it. Along with 10 or 12 other small designers, including Sandy McCormack, I was invited to do an exhibition at Fancourt. The theme I set for myself was Spice Route to Africa and again, the response was just incredible. I made a lot of contacts, including people like Fee Berning from Ardmore. It was a wonderful trip and really put me on my feet.”
Branching out
Silver belt bangle, barrel clasp leather bracelet and silver snaffle bracelet
While her creative energies were finding an outlet, Dawn also got back in the saddle. “Riding has always been my passion and really, at the end of the day, the horses are the main motivation. I think we all work to feed our horses!” She started thinking about an equestrian range and one of the first pieces she created was a heavy silver snaffle bracelet which she gave to Lauren. When I ask to see it, Lauren laughs and refuses saying it’s barely been off her arm since and after a heavy season’s show-jumping, needed a bit of polishing up before it was ready for public view!
I was a little surprised by the confession as the good old BHS handbook recommends removing all jewellery before riding as it’s not exactly a gentle pastime. Lauren just laughs and says that the bracelet has withstood 8 years of constant use, including her daily riding schedule, and is still as good as the first day she got it.
Middle bracket
Adawnment Equestrienne Range
“Everyone knows the high end horse-inspired brands such as Gucci and Hermes. And they are exceptional, but not really within everyone’s budget. We wanted to create something that was also equestrian inspired, but a little more accessible price-wise. The aim was for something that wasn’t just decorative, but of sufficient quality and design that it would still last a lifetime. When I started out, I used very high quality stones and precious metals, but that was more than a decade ago now and things have changed. I still make up high value items on request, but with changing economics and concerns like personal security, the trend seems to be moving away from obviously high value pieces and there is a noticeable trend towards our silver and leather ranges. In South Africa in particular, people are becoming reticent about going out in public wearing too much in the way of gold and diamond jewellery and our range seems to strike a really good middle bracket.”
“Basically I feel the range reflects my lifestyle in South Africa. The range is based on the sort of things that I like to wear and I do most of my selling right off my arm!” laughs Dawn. “I’m a real arm person,” she says, holding up an arm full of brightly coloured pieces, “I’m always wearing stuff that I’ve made and almost as soon as I put something on, someone sees it, likes it and buys it off me!”
Taken off
The Equestrienne range is ‘going crazy’
While the Asfara range is doing very well in the game lodges and can now also be found in Tribal Trends and Tribal Collection in Cape Town, it is the equestrian range that piqued my interest and that has really taken off. “It’s gone crazy!” she exclaims. I can understand why – the pieces are gorgeous, they are instantly recognisable, while at the same time being real one offs, but most of all, they are of unmistakeable quality.
The original templates are hand carved and then moulds are created in jewellery wax using the ancient cold wax casting technique. From there the basic components are manufactured in their workshops and Dawn adds the bespoke finishing touches.
Leather Barrel Clasp Bracelet
One of my favourite items is their plaited leather barrel clasp bracelet. These are made out of a tubular strip of chunky plaited leather, with a heavy silver barrel clasp, finished with a horseshoe and a stone of your choice. As added personal touches, the leather can be plaited around a core of hair from a special horse and the horse’s name engraved on the inside of the barrel clasp, making a unique and highly personal piece. However, there is everything from solid silver eggbutt snaffle bracelets, to horse head clasps, any colour and type of bead one can think of and of course the lovely horse shoe nails that I’d admired so much on my friend’s finger.
Extensive range
Adawnment belts
There are also beautifully crafted leather handbags and belts, bracelets, bangles, cufflinks, rings, earrings and tie-pins. The range is chunky enough to appeal to men too with the leather identity disk bracelets proving particularly popular. “Everything is bespoke and can be made up in any metal or stone colour and we can add any engraving you like. We don’t skimp on the metal, so every piece is heavy and particularly with the horse hair bracelets, every piece has a unique story.”
Dawn’s daughter Lauren has also joined the business. Like her mother, Lauren is also an accomplished rider and show-jumps at the top level in Johannesburg. She studied art at school and wanted to study fine art, but opted for politics, philosophy and economics. However, the lure to follow her creative passion proved overwhelming. She studied goldsmithing and did an undergraduate degree in jewellery design and manufacture at Cape Tech, writing her thesis on Ardmore and their design philosophy. She now creates designs and helps manage and market the business from her Joburg base.
Shared passion
“We’re both mad about horses and it’s a great way for us to share our passion,” says Dawn. “I don’t compete at the very top level anymore, but I still enjoy bringing the babies along.” There are six horses at their gorgeous Constantia home that Dawn keeps in work. “I get them to about 1m 20 level and then pass them on to Lauren. She is focussing very seriously on her riding and competes on the Johannesburg circuit. It works well, because the business allows her to balance marketing the brand and creating new designs with following her dream of competing at the top level. And I’m a nice boss!”
Lauren looked to be flying around this year’s Derby course, when her horse took a fall near the end of the course. However, like her mom, she takes the knocks on the chin and with both her and her horse having recovered, she’s already focussing her sights on next year.
Adawnment is on the web (although an exciting new-look website is currently in production) and Lauren keeps their Facebook site – Adawnment Jewellery – updated. They have just returned from another successful trip to the Parys showing championships and are fully restocked for the Christmas rush. It does take a minimum of two weeks for a made to order item, but if you simply can’t wait, the Equestrienne Range can also be found at Equestrian Affair outlets in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
