Still from Mendel’s launch campaign. (Models Rue Charlotte and Yasmin El Yassini, photographs Anna Sampson, make-up @edenlooks.mua, black corsets by Danielle Goldman, dresses by Valériane Venance.)
Maudji Mendel launches Mendel’s Antique Jewellery this month, focusing on Georgian and Victorian mourning jewellery.
“I’ve always been interested in jewellery and have collected it personally,” Mendel tells ATG, adding that though the big London jewellers offering antique pieces are admirable in their way, they can feel somewhat closed off.
Georgian ‘not lost but gone before’ garnet halo urn ring with polished crystal and white enamel with text to the shank: Hannah Robinson OB. 5 AUG 1769, £2750 from Mendel’s Antique Jewellery.
“I don’t like the idea of any world feeling exclusive.”
Instead, the new firm will offer jewellery that is accessibly prices and distinctively marketed, making use of newer or cutting-edge designers, models and photographers to show off the stock in a way that is both challenging and appealing to modern eyes.
Maudji Mendel.
“Mendel’s is about showing antique jewellery in a different light, one that appeals and speaks to a younger consumer base who care about inclusivity, sustainability and accessibility,” Mendel says.
Late Victorian 18ct gold and black enamel bangle. French provenance, £10,200 from Mendel’s Antique Jewellery.
In the launch campaign, women are shown wearing items of men’s jewellery to stress the increasing gender fluidity of fashion and bigger-bodied models are used in a bid to democratise the pieces.
The jewellery is paired with the clothes of up-and-coming London designers such as Valériane Valance and Danielle Goldman, while the setting of the photographs is deliberately styled with historic, Victorian touches.
Art experience
Victorian 9ct gold citrine and pearl winged heart brooch symbolising triumphant love or ‘love taking flight’, £475 from Mendel’s Antique Jewellery.
Though just 24, the dealer has plenty of experience in the art world and the trade.
Since working at Modern British art firm Liss Llewellyn from 2018-21, Mendel has been involved in the charity Rediscovering Art by Women, which is a collection of Modern (and more recently Contemporary) artworks by women artists, with a focus on Surrealist works.
These are researched and loaned out to shows at institutions to broaden the understanding of women artists in the 20th century and beyond.
For now, the jewellery dealership is online only, which gives the founder the latitude to continue work on Rediscovering Art by Women and other projects, while also keeping overheads and prices low. Pieces range from £475 to £19,900 with the majority being under £5,000.
Mendel adds: “I don’t know anything quite as beautiful as Georgian and Victorian jewellery and you get so much more for your money by investing in antiques rather than contemporary jewellery in my opinion. That’s the motivation behind the business.”
