Remember signet rings? Statement jewellery is back with a vengeance in Georgia

Inspired by childhood memories, Georgian photographer Giorgi Wazowski launched his very own minimalist jewellery line featuring familiar 90s jewellery staples.

The 28-year-old has been a mainstay on Tbilisi’s fashion scene for more than a decade, styling and shooting the capital’s fashion shows, lookbooks, and campaigns.

But if the launch of his namesake brand marks a new direction for Wazowski, the designer is keen to hang-on to his underground roots: launching his collection in an underpass just across from the trendy Stamba Hotel.

The range — which includes off-beat offerings such as candlesticks and soap dishes alongside rings, bracelets and earrings — was inspired by Wazowski’s childhood in Georgia’s turbulent 90s.

“The candlestick reminds me of the time when there was no electricity, and I’d have to play in a darkened room with a candle standing on the table,” he says. “The earrings are an interpretation of the signet ring, which was a big thing in the post-soviet Georgia.”

By blending a grown-up sentimentality with a remembered hint of child-like fun, Wazowski wants his work to reinterpret even Georgia’s most trying moments in a new and creative way.

“I want us to be proud of who we are, and of all the hidden treasures of our country: even those which are hard to see at first,” he says.