Iam frequently asked about the source of inspiration for my jewellery designs. My answer is quite simple, and always the same: I find it in the natural world. From my earliest memories I have been drawn to the unique textures and vibrant colours that can only be discovered in Mother Nature’s wondrous realm. Wherever I go, whatever I see or touch, certain sensations and images - and the feelings they evoke - remain with me, indelibly. It is on these memories that I call when I am designing my jewellery.
I am blessed to live in a country that has a rich abundance of natural beauty. My native Australia offers a breathtaking array of sights, sounds, and tactile experiences – from the sparkle of the morning sun dancing on the shallow waters of coral reefs teeming with life; the lush deep-green of tropical rainforests that echo with the haunting calls of brightly feathered birds; to the endless, sun-baked red earth of the outback. These wonders all provide me with boundless inspiration for my designs, as well as offering up the very gems that bring my visions to life: the rare and lustrous South Sea pearls that are harvested from the pristine seas of Australia’s remote northern coast, the enigmatic and vibrant opals that are prised from the desert earth by gritty and determined miners, and the many precious gemstones which lend my pieces such energy and exuberance of texture.
It is therefore with much pleasure that I present a selection of my favourite pieces to you in the following pages.
Margot McKinney OAM
Exuberance by design, grounded in nature
It is the boldness of Margot’s approach to her work that immediately strikes the first-time observer. An unfettered freedom of expression, combining opals, pearls and precious gems into works of art that are as surprising and yet as natural as the Australian landscape that inspires her.
Margot’s designs do not simply capture the colors and textures of the Australian continent from which her signature opals and pearls are sourced. Rather, each one of her utterly unique pieces – some of which have taken years to create - has a narrative around it to explain and illuminate its natural origins, as well as the people and their stories that helped to bring it to life.
Bloem
Collier featuring eight significant tourmalines (total 240.56ct) including a gem of 65 85ct at the centre of the piece, along with an impressive collection of twenty-seven large Australian South Sea baroque pearls. The twenty-six pearls in the collier’s double strands measure 15-20mm, while a single, particularly rare example measuring 21 x 32mm is placed as the focal point beneath the hero tourmalines. Bloem is completed with white diamonds, brown diamonds, blue, pink and purple sapphires, pink tourmalines, amethysts and rubellites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 28.3cm x 18cm
440053
Rosette
Ring featuring Australian South Sea pearl, diamonds, pink sapphires, orange sapphires and purple sapphires.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold.
Blossom
Earrings featuring Australian South Sea pearls and pink sapphires. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold.
020628
Primrose
Ring featuring tourmaline (4.81ct), diamonds, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires, purple sapphires, tsavorites, amethysts, rose de France and pink tourmalines. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold.
050270
Aurora
Collier created with gemstones of significant size including pink tourmaline (104.94ct), kunzite (57.40ct) and morganite (38.58ct), along with an exceptional assemblage of twenty-four large Australian South Sea baroque pearls measuring 16.5-23.5mm. The piece is further enhanced with three pink tourmalines (62 73ct) and two kunzites (34.21ct), with diamonds, blue sapphires, pink sapphires, purple sapphires, tsavorites and pink tourmalines.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 33cm x 19cm
Bon Bon
Earrings featuring kunzites (101.94ct), diamonds, tsavorites, blue topazes, pink tourmalines, amethysts, tanzanites, blue zircons and kunzites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 7.7cm x 4cm
Galaxy
Collier featuring a rare kunzite of significant size (142.02ct) and intensity of colour at the centre of the piece. Complemented with an array of diamonds and multi-coloured sapphires. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 25cm x 16cm
Coral Cay
Cuff featuring pink tourmaline (43.04ct), rose quartz (1,097 75ct), diamonds, pink tourmalines and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 3.8cm x 7.8cm
Sunkissed
Necklace featuring Tahitian, pink, golden, pistachio and Australian South Sea pearls, diamonds, white sapphires and pink sapphire. Crafted in 18-karat rose gold. Length: 54.5cm
Bow
Necklace featuring Australian South Sea baroque pearls, diamonds and pink sapphires. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. 24cm x 16cm
Kiss
featuring keshi pearls, an Australian South Sea baroque pearl
Crafted in 18-karat rose gold. 19 cm x 16.5cm
Necklace
drop, diamonds and pink sapphires.
Kiss
Earrings featuring pink sapphires, diamonds and Australian South Sea baroque pearls. Crafted in 18-karat rose and white gold. 5cm x 2cm
Cookie
Earrings featuring Australian South Sea baroque pearls, diamonds, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires, orange sapphires and pink tourmalines. Crafted in 18-karat rose and white gold. 6cm x 2 5cm
Marina
Collier featuring an extraordinary suite of gemstones including two large green beryls (241.14ct and 109.48ct) and an aquamarine (65.72ct) at its heart, along with twenty-five large Australian South Sea baroque pearls. The twenty-four pearls in the collier’s double strands measure 17-22mm, while a single, particularly rare example measuring 26 x 30mm is placed as the focal point beneath the hero aquamarine. The piece is completed with two aquamarines (32.44ct), two green tourmalines (15.88ct and 24.09ct), green beryl (22.47ct) along with diamonds, sapphires, green tourmalines, Paraiba tourmalines, aquamarines and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold.
32 5cm x 18cm
Pearls
Nature’s Rare Miracle
Pearls are the only precious gems created by a living organism, and they are an essential part of Margot McKinney’s signature aesthetic. Australia is the birthplace of the finest pearls in the world – Australian South Sea pearls – and the only place where the mighty silver-lipped Pinctada maxima oyster grows. Ranging from the perfectly round to the unique baroque, these rare pearls - often complemented with colourful precious gemstones - feature in works of art by Margot that are as captivating and as natural as the Australian landscape itself.
A deep connection with pearls
The remarkable thing about Margot is her closeness to the pearl farming process and her involvement in the harvesting of these rare gems. Her pearl journey started with a phone call from old friend Aji Ellies, the fifth-generation proprietor of Australia’s only independently-owned pearl farm located in north-east Arnhem Land at the northern tip of Australia.
He invited her to make the long trip to the farm’s remote location and to be part of the harvest, and this extraordinary experience had a profound effect on her. Ever since that time Margot visits Aji’s farm every year, an experience she regards as a great honour. She describes as a rare privilege the ability to present pearls that have come directly from the pristine waters of Arnhem Land to clients on the other side of the world:
‘No other jewellery designer watches as the pearl comes out of the oyster, designs and creates a jewel and then presents it to potential collectors.’
Bow
Bow pendant featuring diamonds and an openable diamond bail. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. Shown with necklace of Australian South Sea
baroque pearls. Bow size: 11cm x 6cm
Tribal Chic
Necklace featuring Australian South Sea pearls, diamonds, blue sapphires, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires and tsavorites.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. Length: 103cm
Tribal Chic
Necklace featuring Australian South Sea baroque pearls, diamonds, blue sapphires, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires and tsavorites.
Crafted in 18-karat white gold. Length: 115 cm
Pearl
Necklace featuring Australian South Sea pearls and diamonds. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. Length: 48 5cm
080078
Lorikeet
Earrings featuring green tourmalines (40.84ct), peridots, kunzites, yellow beryls, aquamarines, tanzanites, mandarin garnets, green tourmalines, rubellites and diamonds. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 5.5cm x 2.7cm
Floral Abundance
Ring featuring Australian South Sea baroque pearl, diamonds, blue sapphires and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold.
5.5cm x 4.5cm
Kiss
Earrings featuring blue sapphires, diamonds and Australian South Sea baroque pearls. Crafted in 18-karat white gold.
5 2cm x 2cm 020598
Kiss
Necklace featuring keshi pearls, an Australian South Sea baroque pearl drop, diamonds and blue sapphires. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. 22cm x 19cm
Palm
Ring featuring tanzanite (17. 38 ct) and diamonds. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. 5.5cm x 5.5cm
Midnight Tide
Necklace featuring tanzanites (54.36ct), Australian South Sea keshi pearls, diamonds, tanzanites, amethysts and rose de France.
Crafted in 18-karat rose gold. 23cm x 21cm
Kiss
Earrings featuring diamonds and Australian South Sea pearls. Crafted in 18-karat white gold. 5cm x 2cm 020583
Opals
The Most Enigmatic of Gems
Margot McKinney harnesses the rich colours in rare opal to evoke the vibrant landscapes of her home. Using the most enigmatic of gems – opal – as the centrepiece of her highly expressive and bold designs, she selects pearls and a myriad of precious gemstones to accentuate the colourful depths, shapes and patterns hidden within the molecular structure of the hero opal.
Each opal has its own story
Margot’s pieces use Australian boulder opal and the rarest form of this gem – black opal – found mostly at Lightning Ridge in outback New South Wales. She prides herself on the relationships she has forged directly with the opal miners who prise these mesmerising gems from the sunbaked arid earth, and makes it a point to visit the mines as often as she can.
Very few jewellery designers have such a level of personal involvement with their supply chains, and it means that her design philosophy is grounded in people and places as much as in colour and form. This inherent authenticity in her approach sets her work apart, and adds a vitally important dimension to the environmentallyinspired beauty of what she creates.
‘I can stand in Atlanta, Georgia and tell the story of that opal and the mine that it comes from and the man who mined it. It makes a piece of jewellery come alive when you can tell that story absolutely first-hand.’
Margot McKinney
Atoll
Collier featuring Australian boulder opals (253 16 green and blue tourmalines, diamonds, blue sapphires, tsavorites, peridots, zircons and demantoids. Crafted in 25 cm x 17cm
Totem
Earrings featuring Australian boulder opals (30.85ct), tanzanites (23.32ct), Australian South Sea baroque pearls, diamonds, blue sapphires, tsavorites and peridots. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 8.7cm x 2.8cm
Coral Cay
Cuff featuring green tourmaline (40.82ct), nephrite (1,096.65ct), diamonds, tsavorites and blue sapphires.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 3 8cm x 7 8cm
Atoll
Ring featuring Australian boulder opal (10.71ct), blue zircon (18 06ct), pistachio pearl, diamonds, blue sapphires, tsavorites, lemon quartz and peridots. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold.
3 6cm x 3 8cm
Isle
Cuff featuring Australian boulder opal (50.36ct), diamonds, blue sapphires, tsavorites and peridots.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 8.4cm x 5.9cm
Seaspray
Collier featuring Australian boulder opals (119.31ct), diamonds, Paraiba tourmalines, aquamarines, peridots, blue topazes, zircons, chrysoberyls, blue sapphires, tsavorites, and blue and green enamel. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 20cm x 17cm
Osprey Reef
Cuff featuring Australian boulder opal (54.25ct), aquamarine (64.35ct), peridot (78.28ct), white opal, blue sapphires, orange sapphires, Paraiba tourmalines and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 6cm x 8.5cm
Horizon
Necklace featuring Australian black boulder opal (87 41ct), peridot (38.40ct), Australian South Sea baroque pearl, diamonds, blue sapphires, pink sapphires, tsavorites, peridots, tanzanites and blue enamel. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 36cm x 17cm
Paradise
Earrings featuring peridots (24.01ct), Australian boulder opals (62.66ct), tsavorites, diamonds and blue sapphires. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 7 7cm x 3 5cm
Cascade
Collier featuring Australian boulder opals (38.35ct), pistachio pearls, diamonds, blue zircons, yellow beryls, Paraiba tourmalines, demantoids, green tourmalines, blue sapphires, tanzanites, tsavorites and peridots.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 20.5cm x 16cm
Azure
Earrings featuring Australian boulder opals (16 33ct), diamonds, blue sapphires and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 3.5cm x 2.6cm
030120
Rainforest Bloom
Ring featuring Australian black opal (37.52ct), diamonds, blue sapphires and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat white gold.
6.5cm x 5.3cm
Aqua Totem
Earrings featuring Australian boulder opals (22.13ct), green tourmalines (18.33ct), Tahitian pearls, diamonds, blue sapphires, pink sapphires and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 9cm x 2cm
En Tremblant
Cuff featuring Ethiopian opal (50. 97ct), diamonds, blue sapphires, pink sapphires, orange sapphires and tsavorites.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 6. 5cm x 5 . 6cm
Ring featuring white opal (40.46ct), diamonds, yellow sapphires, amethysts, rose de France, peridots and pink tourmalines.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 6cm x 4.5cm
Galah
Pistachio
Collier featuring green tourmalines (63.42ct), peridots, Paraiba tourmalines, pistachio pearls, diamonds, blue sapphires and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 19. 5cm x 16 . 5 cm
Curating a world of colour in precious gemstones
While Australian boulder opals and South Sea pearls often form the centrepieces of her works, Margot is equally adept at harnessing the colour and lustre in precious gems to be the stars in her art. What sets her apart are not only her artistic vision but also her
Margot Pavé
Paul-Otto Caesar, a German gem-cutter at Gustav Caesar with whom Margot has worked for decades, developed a new term for Margot’s use of the coloured stones surrounding and enhancing a central stone. Pavé describes the way diamonds (usually small) are closely packed, in order to complement the beauty in the main stone. Paul-Otto coined “Margot Pavé” to refer to her unique use of stones of significant size and colour to surround a magnificent centre stone.
Queensland Ballet’s Soloist, Laura Tosar
Lillian
Collier created with a large Australian black opal (41.93ct) as the central focus, immediately framed by an array of significant coloured gemstones including a mandarin garnet (26.32ct), two rubellites (31.79ct), a tanzanite (23.29ct), two yellow beryls (20 49ct) and two citrines (37 23ct). Lillian is completed with green tourmaline, tanzanite, peridot, kunzite, and yellow beryl as well as diamonds, blue, yellow, orange and pink sapphires, tsavorites and amethysts. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 28.5cm x 19.5cm
Palette
Collier featuring extra-large baroque gems of aquamarine, tanzanite, rubellite, amethyst and peridot, set with a suite of diamonds, rare blue zircons, kunzites, blue sapphires, pink sapphires, rose de France, demantoids, green tourmalines, amethysts and tsavorites. Crafted in 18-karat white and yellow gold. 21cm x 14cm
Palette
Earrings featuring large baroque gems of aquamarine, green tourmaline and peridot, set with diamonds, blue sapphires, pink sapphires, tsavorites, amethysts, rare blue zircons, kunzites, pink tourmalines and demantoids.
Crafted in 18-karat white and yellow gold. 7 5cm x 2 5cm
Begonia
Cuff featuring rubellite (32.97ct), diamonds, yellow sapphires, green tourmalines, peridots, rhodolites and blue topazes. Crafted in 18-karat brushed yellow gold. 4 2cm x 5 6cm
Sugar Plum
Earrings featuring rubellites (23.89ct), diamonds, pink sapphires, tsavorites, amethysts, peridots, and pink tourmalines, with drops of mix-match golden and Australian South Sea pearls.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 5 3cm x 3 3cm 020609
Blossom
Earrings featuring blue zircons (38.91ct), diamonds, blue sapphires, tsavorites and aquamarines. Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 4cm x 4cm
Marianas
Cuff featuring aquamarine (176.65ct), aquamarine (1,089.10ct), and diamonds. Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. 4cm x 7.8cm
Aurora
Earrings featuring Australian South Sea pearls, diamonds, pink sapphires, tsavorites, peridots and pink tourmalines.
Crafted in 18-karat yellow and white gold. 4.5cm x 4cm
Margot McKinney is proud to be a Patron of The King’s Trust Australia and an Associate Sponsor of the 2024 Global Gala.
The King’s Trust was founded by King Charles III to tackle the global crisis of youth unemployment and to support young people worldwide.
The charity helps young people prepare for the rapidly changing world of work, inspires veterans and their families into entrepreneurship and self-employment, and champions resilient sustainable community.
