Interview: Chupi Sweetman on the power of jewellery

While designing jewellery is Chupi Sweetman’s bread and butter, stories are her lifeblood

Chupi Sweetman, jewellery designer: ‘We are the first generation of women to buy our own diamonds.’ Picture by Fergal Phillips

When Chupi Sweetman started her eponymous jewellery line, she thought she was in the business of romance. The first piece of jewellery she really fell in love with was her engagement ring. It wasn’t until women started contacting her with direct messages that the Dubliner realised it wasn’t love that bound her community – it was hope.

The stories that came flooding in through Instagram and Facebook ran the gamut of relationships: tentatively buying an ...