Silver Jewelry Design · 2025
The Roaring Lion Statement Choker
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Jewelry Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Vergez™
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 65,910
- Verification code 29CD97EDE6 · Verify this award
About The Roaring Lion Statement Choker
The Roaring Lion Choker brings together traditional craftsmanship and modern techniques to create a sculptural jewelry piece. Made of white gold, its faceted lion motif interacts with light to enhance depth and dimension. Strands of Tahitian pearls provide contrast, balancing structure with fluidity. The design process involved extensive research into material composition and wearability, ensuring both visual impact and comfort. More than adornment, the choker reflects personal expression through form, texture, and composition.
The Roaring Lion Statement Choker by Philippe Vergez represents a compelling achievement within contemporary jewelry design, demonstrating how traditional symbolic motifs may be reinterpreted through modernist formal vocabularies to create pieces that function simultaneously as personal adornment and wearable sculpture. The work appears to engage with longstanding traditions of animalistic imagery in decorative arts, where the lion has historically served as an emblem of courage, nobility, and sovereign power across numerous cultural contexts from ancient civilizations through heraldic traditions to contemporary luxury design. Philippe Vergez seems to approach this venerable subject through a distinctly contemporary lens, employing faceted geometric abstraction reminiscent of digital modeling techniques and crystalline mineral formations to render the feline visage in dramatically angular planes that transform the organic into the architectonic. The technical accomplishment evident in the metalwork suggests sophisticated casting and finishing processes, with the gunmetal surface treatment creating a brooding intensity that complements rather than competes with the luminous pearl strands. These graduated pearls themselves demonstrate careful curation, their progression from warm cream through dusky champagne to deepest black creating visual rhythm while their organic sphericity provides essential counterpoint to the angular central motif. The compositional intelligence of the overall design distributes visual weight effectively across the décolletage, with the multiple strands creating horizontal stability that grounds the dramatic vertical thrust of the roaring lion. One might observe how the piece negotiates between opposing aesthetic principles, reconciling the wild with the refined, the geometric with the organic, the contemporary with the traditional, suggesting that strength and elegance need not exist in opposition but may be synthesized into unified statements of identity. What inner qualities might the wearer seek to embody or project through such a commanding piece of personal adornment?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This choker is the result of a meticulous design process that balances technique and artistry. The faceted white gold lion motif reflects light dynamically, creating depth and contrast. Tahitian pearls introduce fluidity, complementing the structured composition. Careful attention to material selection ensures both durability and comfort. Designed with precision and craftsmanship, the piece embodies strength and individuality through its sculptural form and refined details.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Inside Diameter 15 cm
Outside Diameter 24 cm
Lion head height 7cm - Tags
- vergez jewelry, roaring lion, strength and rebellion, empowering women, tribute to legends,
- Production Technology
- Each piece has been meticulously crafted in the tradition of fine jewelry making, cut, carved, shaped, soldered, and polished by hand. Diamonds are bezel-set, and crosses were made separately, then pinned and soldered from the back. The pearls have wider drill holes to fit onto the rods. These stainless steel rods pass through the lion’s head, providing stiffness while maintaining flexibility and comfort. After testing various methods, we achieved the perfect balance for Qymira’s performance.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge was to give a floating feel to a piece that should remain stable on the neck of the artist while she is dancing or playing violin on stage.
Concerning the main piece, filing and polishing each facet to perfection posed a challenge that demanded skill, time and unwavering focus. - Project Duration
- The Project duration last 5 months from ideation to completion. Locations span from New York to Bayonne France and our atelier in Hong Kong.
- Operation Flow
- The Roaring Lion Choker creates an immediate emotional impact, embodying strength and individuality. The faceted white gold lion’s head commands attention, while Tahitian pearls and white diamonds provide contrast in texture and light. Designed for comfort, its structure contours naturally to the wearer’s neck, ensuring a seamless fit. Beyond adornment, it is a statement, inviting admiration, conversation, and a deep connection between the piece, the wearer, and the audience.
- Research
- The research for The Roaring Lion Choker combined artistic exploration and technical innovation. Our objective was to fuse high jewelry craftsmanship with bold symbolism. We love historical regalia, modern faceting techniques, and material interactions. Using 3D modeling and metal prototyping, we refined the lion’s sculptural form. Giving life and expression to a geometrical mathematical shape. This research pushes design boundaries, blending heritage with avant-garde luxury.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the fearless spirit of Qymira, a captivating artist, singer, composer, lyricist and actress. The Roaring Lion Choker embodies strength, artistry, and defiance. It honors her inner lioness, carrying her voice into the universal language of music.
- Image Credits
- Copyright: Philippe Vergez
Photos Credit: Christiaan Hart Photography
Model/Actress: Qymira - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Philippe Vergez, 2025.
Colors of The Roaring Lion Statement Choker
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G0E22 ShopDesign Interview about The Roaring Lion Statement Choker
This piece was designed for artist and philanthropist Qymira, to honor her elegance, strength, and unmistakable presence while on tour in the UK. The Roaring Lion Choker embodies duality, fierce and graceful, majestic and intimate. Inspired by the lion not just as a symbol of royalty and courage, but as a reflection of Qymira’s commanding stage presence and quiet resilience offstage, it channels her voice, roaring when it must, whispering when it wants. Crafted as a tribute, it became a statement of empowerment, protection, and untamed beauty.
My main focus was to create a piece that would transcend ornament, something that could speak. The goal was to embody the force and fragility of Qymira’s presence into a wearable sculpture, capturing a voice that roars for justice and sings for peace. I wanted the choker to feel like armor and poetry at once, a tribute, but also a talisman. It had to reflect identity, not just style.
The Roaring Lion Choker will be auctioned to raise funds for the One Gaia Foundation, an initiative created and financed by Qymira to support children in need around the world. It’s a deeply personal gesture: a piece designed in her image, now set to serve her mission. This is where art becomes a bridge, between beauty and purpose, between strength and care. The choker’s roar, once a tribute to her spirit, now becomes a voice for those who need to be heard most.
From the first sketch to the final piece, the Roaring Lion Choker took four months to complete. Every detail, from the curve of the silhouette to the precision of the roar, was carefully refined. While the concept came intuitively, translating that emotion into form, and balancing strength with grace, took time. It was not just about making a jewel, it was about capturing a presence.
This was not a commissioned piece in the traditional sense, it was born from inspiration and admiration. The Roaring Lion Choker was created as a unique piece for Qymira, who represents our brand worldwide. Her presence, her mission, and her inner fire inspired every line of the design. It was a tribute, not just to her, but to what she stands for: strength with purpose, elegance with edge.
We do not plan to lease or license the design to any third party. As of now, it remains a unique piece. We may eventually add it to our own catalogue, with profits directed to the One Gaia Foundation. Given the nature of the choker, a high-value, statement creation, we do not anticipate mass production or widespread sales. Its purpose is more symbolic than commercial.
I wanted to create something that would embody strength and elegance in equal measure, a sculptural tribute that could be worn. The lion, as a symbol, carries ancestral weight. In Qymira, I saw that same mix of power and grace, and it felt natural to design a piece that roars without shouting.
No. This piece was entirely born from personal inspiration and the connection I have with Qymira, no outside influence or reference guided the design.
This is a unique piece , not made for a market, but for a muse. If ever reproduced, it would still speak to a very specific kind of person: someone who embraces boldness, soul, and meaning in what they wear.
Its uniqueness, not just in form, but in intention. It is not a lion-shaped ornament. It is a lion’s spirit captured in metal and set close to the voice. It’s not meant to be trendy. It’s meant to last.
The name Roaring Lion Choker came naturally. The lion is both a protector and a voice, the roar represents power, presence, and the echo of Qymira’s own mission. The name is literal, symbolic, and intimate all at once.
The first sketches were made with pen and pad. Later, I used Adobe Illustrator for vector refinement and Rhino for the technical 3D modeling. But the soul of the piece was there from the start, on paper.
Its soul. It carries more than design, it carries meaning, love, a mission, and identity. The lion doesn’t only sit on the neck. It watches, it protects, it speaks.
I worked closely with my partner, Evgeny Sukhov, jeweler and gemologist, who brought the piece to life technically. While the design was entirely mine, Evgeny’s expertise made the impossible possible.
The role of technology in this design is very limited, as it is a handmade piece crafted in the tradition of fine jewelry. While I use digital tools to refine ideas and bring them to life, the heart of the design process is deeply rooted in craftsmanship. Each piece is created by hand, focusing on the artistry, skill, and attention to detail that has been passed down through generations. Technology serves as a tool for precision, but the soul of the piece lies in the hands of the artisans who bring it to life.
My designs come from within. There are born from personal experiences, emotions, and stories rather than data or analytical research. I don’t rely on trends or market studies, my process is deeply intuitive, guided by the essence of what I want to express. The research I conduct is more about exploring my own inspirations, memories, and the world around me, whether it’s through music, nature, or moments in time. It’s a process that’s less about numbers and more about feeling and connection.
Achieving both comfort and structure was a technical challenge. The piece had to be wearable yet powerful, a sculpture that moves with the body. Translating the roar into a shape that wasn’t literal yet deeply evocative took time and iteration.
This design felt like a milestone in my creative path. It held meaning, complexity, and beauty, and I wanted to share that beyond our inner circle. The A' Design Award felt like the right platform to celebrate that intention and craftsmanship.
I learned the value of restraint, knowing when to stop. I deepened my trust in the emotional process of design. It reminded me that the most powerful pieces don’t come from trends, but from something much deeper , memory, purpose, love.
Only this: sometimes a piece of jewelry is not a product, it’s a message. This choker was created out of admiration, shaped by intention, and now it will serve a greater cause through the One Gaia Foundation. That’s what design should be: a bridge between art and action.
Grand Interview about The Roaring Lion Statement Choker
The Lion choker was born from a dual pulse, the raw energy of New York’s Greenwich Village and the quiet force of the Atlantic wind in Bayonne. It was made for Qymira, an artist who carries strength and vulnerability in equal measure, and I needed to design something that could hold all of that.I never set out to balance tradition and innovation; it simply became necessary. The lion, a symbol of courage and presence, came from my own roots, deeply grounded in the Basque Country and the old codes of local regalia.I started with hand sketches, shaping the proportions, the weight, the emotional charge of the piece. Then we brought it into 3D, refining the facets so that light would ripple across the surface like breath.We faced real performance constraints rigidity for stage movement, comfort on skin, durability over time, so we embedded fine stainless steel rods hidden inside to give strength without stiffness. The piece had to be heavy enough to sit yet light enough to move. That was the true challenge.Craftsmanship stayed at the core. From casting the lion in white gold to choosing every Tahitian pearl and diamond, each element was placed with intent. The seven black pearls on each side, nestled among iridescent white, carry a secret meaning. Technology helped us fine-tune it, but the hands still did the work. It’s more than jewelry, a kind of armor, an extension of who she is.
The faceted style has become part of my design language. It began twenty years ago when I sculpted a faceted skull, not a jewel, just an object full of raw tension and light. Since then, I’ve kept exploring that visual vocabulary.With the lion, I didn’t want it to be decorative; I wanted it to feel alive. Not roaring in sound, but in presence. Each facet was placed to catch light like a silent roar, strength you don’t hear but see. The lion carries Qymira’s voice and music further, to places she still have to discover.I worked obsessively on the form, from hand sketches to digital modeling. I wasn’t chasing perfection but something more human, symmetry with soul. Every angle was guided by instinct, not by math.
The piece had to reflect her name, Qymira, the chimera, a creature of duality and transformation. From the start, I knew this wasn’t going to be a passive object. It had to move with her, to hold energy without ever getting in the way.Designing for her meant designing for emotion in motion. It had to stay perfectly aligned through intense stage performances, being fluid and wearable.She didn’t need a jewel; she needed a talisman, something that could carry her presence on stage and beyond.
The piece had to look like it was floating, yet never shift out of place. That contrast was the real challenge.After several trials, the solution came by embedding stainless steel rods through the lion and side elements, a hidden skeleton. They gave the right stiffness to keep it from rotating or twisting, while preserving flexibility where needed.It wasn’t solved overnight. We tested, adjusted, rebuilt. But once it clicked, the structure held perfectly. You don’t see it, but you feel it in the way it rests and responds.
Every material had a role beyond beauty. The Tahitian pearls weren’t just decoration; they acted like a rolling structure, almost a soft backbone. They absorbed movement, brought balance, and allowed the choker to sit gently yet firmly on the skin. Their roundness countered the piece’s strength, adding lightness and ease.They also carry a quiet nobility, their sheen has a natural elegance that doesn’t shout, it simply exists.White gold gave the lion its life, clarity, and weight, while the diamonds were placed to reflect light without overpowering. One element grounds, the other elevates, that tension keeps the whole piece alive.
It was a journey through places and people. The first sketches were drawn in New York, the concept sparked in Biarritz and Bayonne, the digital modeling happened between France and Hong Kong, and the final piece was hand-crafted in our Hong Kong atelier.Each place brought something different: New York gave it pulse and edge, Bayonne gave it meaning and patience, and Hong Kong brought discipline and precision. Sometimes there was friction, but it often brought clarity.It reminded me that good design doesn’t belong to one place, it’s a shared dialogue across cultures and skills. This choker was shaped by that alchemy.
Honestly, I can’t. There’s no formula behind it. The geometry comes from a place I can’t explain, maybe it’s just how my brain works. I see it first, then try to bring it into the world.It’s not about equations or rules, it’s instinct, repetition, and silence. A need to translate what I feel into form.
It pushes form where it’s not expected to go but always with respect for the hands that make it real.I break rules, not rituals.
There’s no new invention here, only the choice to use known techniques in unexpected ways. Innovation often comes from how we see things, not from the tools we use. That’s where new possibilities open.
I don’t have the pretension to inspire. But if it shows that tradition and modernity can speak to each other, I’ll be happy.The hope is that younger designers will take it further, push boundaries I can’t see and use today’s tools to shape tomorrow’s expressions in ways we haven’t imagined yet.