High-polished, brushed, sandblasted—texture is one of the most overlooked design features of jewellery, yet Melbourne’s own Lauren Trojkovic has made hand-engraved surface marks her signature. Inspired by mountainous landscapes and the rugged lines and rough patterns found in nature, she wields the graver to cut repetitive strokes into her contemporary jewellery.
Trojkovic’s popular design aesthetic is for wearers who appreciate a subtle statement. A keen interest in lapidary shines in the faceted forms she carves into wax. Freeform-cut sapphires, zircons and peppery diamonds are set in chunky claws. On a ring, they are often accented with boulder-like shapes, faceted and pavé-set with diamonds. Vibrantly hued gemstones are set in geometric halos of small diamonds, dazzling with colour and charmingly asymmetrical.
The larger surface area of flat statement earrings and pendants serve as canvases exhibiting Trojkovic’s engraved patterns. The undulating cuts as seen in her Isobar Earrings and Cirrus Necklace pieces recall rippled water, rocky cliff faces or woven textiles. Small bright gemstones sometimes accent these pieces with a delicate pop of colour.
Engraving strokes onto gold and silver lends the metal a seemingly warmer tone. It throws light in different directions and creates shadows on a surface. Balancing the visual features of her quintessential engraved marks and the vivid colours of gemstones, Trojkovic deftly arranges and combines colour and texture with the eye of a painter.
Among all the excellent gemstones in her collection, the humble Corian offcuts that she facets for her jewellery are the most unique. Corian is a material used in benchtops and basins that comprises a blend of acrylic polymer and natural minerals. Its common uses are far outside the world of jewellery, but the variety of colours and stone-like patterns available makes it well-suited to Trojkovic’s rocky aesthetic. She repurposes neutral white, black and pastel pieces, often highlighting the light speckles in the Corian with matching accent tourmaline, garnet or topaz.
Trojkovic graduated from Melbourne Polytechnic with an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Object Design in 2017. Now, two Melbourne stores, E.g.etal and Studio Ingot, and Aspects of Kings Park Gallery in Western Australia, exhibit and stock her work in their contemporary jewellery collections. In the same year of her graduation, Trojkovic was a finalist for the Victorian Craft Awards.
Before entering the jewellery industry, she had a history in photography and graphic design. It seems natural, then, that these might inform her mastery of the light and colour properties of the materials she uses. Her jewellery is bold and sculptural, but it also bears a painterly quality that begins with the two-dimensional surface treatment of engraving and doesn’t end there.
