An 18ct gold and citrine dress ring, by David Thomas, 1970, the oval mixed-cut citrine claw set within gold pierced abstract setting, the design extending around the shank, with maker’s mark ‘D.A.T’. and hallmarked for London, 1970, length of ring head 23mm, weight 15.6gm, ring size J. £600-800

David Thomas was born in Hampton Hill, Middlesex in 1938. His father was an academic but encouraged his son’s ambition to be an artist and transferred David to Twickenham School of Art in 1953 when he was only 15. He made his first piece of jewellery in the same year, and later won a Royal Society of Arts bursary which enabled him to travel in Italy and France. Leaving school in 1958 at a time when there were few British workshops employing modern designers, David moved to Stockholm where he found a job with W A Bolin, the Swedish Crown jewellers. In 1959 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, earning the title of Royal Scholar by the end of his first year. Leaving the Royal College of Art in 1961, he set up his own studio at Hampton Hill, moving to 4c Old Church Street, Chelsea in 1965. By this time, interest in his work was becoming international, with exhibitions all over the world. i

Most of David Thomas’ jewellery is made on private commission for his private clients, espousing his belief that jewellery is an ‘intense personal art form’. However, in 1972 he put his experience to wider use, when he produced the Atlantis Collection, in association with Prestige Jewellery in London.

Moving in 1985 to new studios at 65, Pimlico Road, David Thomas’ jewels today are to be found in the collections of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and De Beers Consolidated Mines.