Robinson Pelham marks 30 years with mother-of-pearl summer collection

Robinson Pelham is opening its 30th anniversary year with mother-of-pearl, yellow gold and a deliberate return to 1990s ease. The British fine-jewelry house says 2026 marks 30 years, and its year-long Bold Since ’96 program begins with Summer of ’96, a collection and campaign that reworks the decade in which Vanessa Chilton, Kate Pelham-Burn and Zoe Benyon founded the brand in 1996.

That origin story still matters to the collection’s mood. Robinson Pelham began as a small bespoke atelier in a Pimlico carriage house before growing into a London-based jeweler with clients on both sides of the Atlantic, and its identity has always leaned toward bold, colorful and wearable pieces rather than stiff formality. Summer of ’96 takes that language and pushes it toward the current appetite for retro dressing, where nostalgia has to feel light, mixable and easy to wear.

The clearest pearl cue is Utopia Blanc. Instead of a classic strand, the line pairs mother-of-pearl beads with 18ct yellow-gold disco beads on the house’s signature pink thread, a combination that gives the pieces a softer, more playful read than traditional pearl jewelry. The effect is intentionally casual and summer-ready, with the thread keeping the look airy while the gold beads add enough flash to stop the pearls from slipping into prim territory. Shot in Mallorca by Buzz White, the campaign reinforces that sunlit, 90s-summer feeling without overcomplicating it.

Just as important is the range of proportions. Utopia Blanc appears as a 7-inch bracelet priced at £545, then as necklaces at 15 inches for £820, 17 inches for £880, 20 inches for £950, 24 inches for £1,090 and 32 inches for £1,290. Those lengths invite layering and solo wear alike, which is exactly where pearl jewelry has been moving: away from a single ceremonial necklace and toward pieces that can sit with denim, silk or tailored separates.

The anniversary collection also folds in Robinson Pelham’s wider signatures, including bold colour, sculptural gold and signature diamonds. But Utopia Blanc is the most telling piece in the lineup, because it shows how a pearl can be redesigned as a fashion object with memory. It is less heirloom than attitude, and that is what gives the 1996 reference its current pull.