Cece Jewellery unveils fairy-tale collection of symbolic talismanic pieces

Cece Jewellery has pushed fairy-tale jewelry beyond sweet whimsy with Once Upon A Time, a collection built on opposites: sun and serpent, heart and octopus, light and dark. The pieces lean into a storybook mood, but the narrative is not all daisies and dazzle. It moves through storm-darkened seas and moonlit kingdoms, then into love, lust and longing, giving the collection a sharper emotional edge than a simple romance edit.

That tension is what makes the design language work. Champlevé enamel gives each motif a clear, painted surface, so the icons read almost like miniature emblems rather than decorative blur. Diamonds add a second layer of meaning by catching the light at key points, punctuating the imagery rather than overwhelming it. The result is legible symbolism: a sun feels radiant, a serpent feels watchful, and the octopus, lips or pomegranate do not sit there as pretty props. They become part of a visual code built to be read closely.

Fein-Hughes has long described Cece Jewellery as “a personal mythology, crafted in gold and enamel,” and that is still the brand’s most useful shorthand. The label has built its identity around old-school sailor tattoos, folklore and fairytales, with earlier motifs including swallows, cherubs, mermaid tails, horses, anchors, shells and arrows. Once Upon A Time extends that vocabulary, but it does so with more contrast and more mood, moving the work toward a dreamlike summer register without losing the talismanic feel.

The founder’s own path explains the depth behind the pieces. Cece Fein-Hughes studied History of Art at the University of Exeter, worked at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, then turned to goldsmithing in 2018 and later discovered enamelling at the British Academy of Jewellery. Dartmoor, Devon, with its folklore and legends, remains a constant influence. Walpole has described each design as meant to carry meaning and spark conversation, and that idea is visible here in the way the motifs are arranged to feel symbolic rather than merely decorative.

That approach has helped Cece Jewellery cut through a crowded market. Fein-Hughes was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2023 in Art and Culture, and one report said she was the only fine jeweler on it. Another said sales rose from about $14,000 to $960,000 over two years. Stocked by Liberty London, the brand now looks less like a whimsical newcomer than a label that has learned how to make fantasy feel precise, which is exactly what gives this collection its bite.