Ring for Zaha Hadid

Brian Clarke designed a gold ring for his friend, the architect Zaha Hadid, in 2010. The work was created for her birthday, alongside a second silver ring.

Described by Hadid as a ‘freehand sketch made in gold’, this ring translates the calligraphic quality of Clarke’s signature line into jewellery. Contrasting with her own style of drawing with ‘very straight, smooth lines’, for Hadid, this piece captures the three-dimensionality of Clarke’s line: ‘It’s almost like drawing in space...’.

Later, Clarke made a series of designs for jewellery for Hadid which remain unmade: a pair of earrings, a tiara and necklace, intended to form a set with these rings.