OUT OF THIS WORLD

19th November 2025

ROX marks 10 years of it’s iconic Cosmic collection with a high jewellery creation, Supernova, inspired by the beauty of the cosmos. And it is stellar. Words by Laura McCreadie-Doak.

Stars have long provided artistic inspiration. There is the swirling mesmeric vortexes of Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night; Dior’s reimagining of the Zodiac; and ROX with its Cosmic collection.

Technically it isn’t the stars, so much as spiral galaxies that caught Ailsa Mackie’e eye, Head of Design at ROX, back in 2015. These are a particular type of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble, in his 1936 work The Realm of the Nebulae. They are flat rotating discs containing stars, gas and dust, with a central concentration of stars often surrounded by a fainter halo of other stars. Ailsa and the team at ROX translated these cosmic bodies into incredible pieces of jewellery. The swirls of dust become diamonds, the central concentration of stars one single gemstone.

It is not just these galaxies that sparked creativity – the collection also takes its design cues from a phenomenon known as cosmic rays. These are high-energy charged sub-atomic particles that travel through space at the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, supernovae and distant galaxies. The story of their discovery is as romantic as the notion that these luminescent particles come from the furthest reaches of space itself.

Stars have long provided artistic inspiration. There is the swirling mesmeric vortexes of Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night; Dior’s reimagining of the Zodiac; and ROX with its Cosmic collection.

In 1912, an Austrian physicist called Victor Hess took a balloon 5,300 meters into the air. At this height you would be able to see the curvature of the earth. Hess was more interested in radiation entering the atmosphere. He named this radiation “cosmic rays” and this discovery established the field of particle physics and contributed to our understanding of the universe. Alisa Mackie explains, “These glittering showers of particles have been translated into modernist geometric shapes and tapered forms to create stiking cosmic rays that link together to create necklaces, earrings and bracelets or stacked to form rings.”

As with all ROX jewellery it is an entirely in-house project from concept to creation. Ailsa formulates the ideas, and then the pieces, all of which in this collection are handcrafted in 18ct white gold, 18ct yellow gold and platinum set with natural diamonds. Having its own team of craftspeople allows ROX to experiment with settings. This collection uses thread and grain, channel and bezel settings, each to enhance the beauty of the stones.

To celebrate 10 years of ROX Cosmic, ROX has gone all out with the Supernova statement necklace which highlights the level of creativity both in the workshop and with the design team. The level of craftsmanship and attention to detail on the piece is next level.

The first layer of the necklace is an 18ct cross of cosmic rays topped with diamond-set bezel tips to stabilise the pendant against the chest. Then a series of thread and grain diamond-set cosmic swirls are woven like ribbons round a central cabochon cut 1.69ct pink opal, chosen for its emotional healing properties. The pink opal and its setting are mounted on the cross and it is surrounded, in turn, with shafts of diamond-set cosmic rays that shoot out at differing lengths and angles. If that wasn’t enough star power, it hangs on an 18ct white gold, four-strand, trace chain decorated with spectacle-set diamonds where the chains meet the pendant.

The overall effect is to simulate a supernova explosion. It is like looking into the heart of a galaxy – both awe-inspiring and mesmerising. And a stunning testament to the star power of ROX’s jewellery.

Discover ROX Cosmic Collection

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