Stephen Webster, in characteristic flamboyance launched The Seven Deadly Sins collection in London's Old Vic's tunnels under Waterloo station. Look all seven rings and I dare you to tell which is your Deadly Sin. Unfortunately the Jewellery Editor arrived in the dank, musty tunnels of Leake Street a little late. The bar was being packed up and the DJ's were playing to an empty, echoing cavern of crumbling brick walls and the straggling remains of what looked like one hell of a party. The Absinthe cocktails appear to have played their part in ensuring that the party went off like a firework and burnt bright for a few magical hours. Never mind, I did manage to chat to Stephen Webster, in a shiny red rockabilly jacket with a Teddy Boy wave of dark hair jutting up from his forehead. He was lamenting that I didn't have a chance to have a temporary tattoo of my chosen Deadly Sin. Maybe that was just as well as I don't think they would all have fitted on my arm. The seven rings range in price from £15,000 to £98,000 and they are of course, Greed, Envy, Lust, Sloth, Pride, Wrath and Gluttony. Only seven will be made of each ring, which according to my dodgy maths makes it a total of 49 rings. My favourite is Greed with its golden coins piled up into towers topped off with a sparkling diamond. I can just see Ebenezer Scrooge rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of all that lovely lolly. Sloth places an lazy aquamarine on a plush red cushion and writhing legs in stockings and arms suggest hanky panky in the Lust ring. Envy is, of course, a representation of the green eyed monster lurking under a lush green peridot while for Pride a purple tanzanite is surrounded by a ruff of peacock feathers. Gluttony are wide-open cherry red bejewelled lips with glossy white teeth just waiting to chomp up anything edible. Wrath shows a woman's hands clutching a chalice of poison. In dreaming up this decadent set of rings, Webster says: "In the context of the 21st century, the seven deadly sins my not be admirable but are no longer considered punishable by death. And whilst everyone knows what each of the sins represent, not everyone knows the individual punishments administered in hell by the old devil himself..." And I think Webster is referring to Lucifer, and not his good self. Interesting to see that the Seven Deadly sins and variants of these are something of a theme at the moment. Boucheron did a high jewellery collection two years ago based on the darker side of nature and now, we have Stephen Webster's take on naughtiness, as well as Theo Fennell and Jessica McCormack musings on human foibles and weaknesses. Perhaps it is the season to ponder on men's folly and not just the jolly holly.
