DIDRIS from Damson Idris and a bit…

…of my own doodling

Not every endeavour in life has to be entrepreneurial or successful – but if a celebrity jewelry brand should be, make it DIDRIS.

My quiet ambassador dream

I am not afraid to admit that I would love to have my own jewelry line. Or rather what I truly want is to be a Cartier och Chanel ambassador – not to design for them, they do that just fine on their very own – but because such a role might come with an invitation to explore their archive and heritage collections. I hear Cartier keeps one in a building in a nondescript industrial area somewhere in the depths of Switzerland. (No, really!)

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Zen and the Art of amateur jewelry drawing

In the meanwhile, I draw jewelry as a way to relax. I love writing, but that wires my mind and brain until the dreaded level of “I-cannot-sleep-I-just need-to-write-this-little-tiny-short-thing-down-tooooo.” has been reached. Drawing, on the other hand, has a genuinely calming effect on me. However, I as a person need a sense of practical ‘purpose’ so simply doodling landscapes or random objects did not quite cut it either. Hence, combining my jewelry interest with trying to go Zen…
So, here I am – instead of drawing chairs or colouring in mandalas (tried; didn’t do it for me) – with my burgundy LEUCHTTURM1917 notebook and my coloured pencils. And noooow, to build my jewelry empire I just have to become a celeb first…

Enter Damson Idris

Joke aside! I think one of the celebrities who has tried, managed and succeeded in this endeavor – building a credible jewelry company from scratch – is actor Damson Idris (whom I cannot wait to watch as Miles Davis in the upcoming film Miles & Juliette, directed by Bill Pohlad) and his brand DIDRIS.
The new fine jewelry house, co-founded with Stephanie Moy and Stephen Ready, launched in 2025 and was “debuted” by Idris at the Met Gala.

Damson Idris has said that the jewelry line is inspired by his mother, Silifat Idris, who bought and sold gold in her native Nigeria and later in London, would window shop for jewelry at Harrods after work – while raising Damson and his five siblings.

The making of DIDRIS

Damson Idris, apparently, plays a big role and is genuinely involved in the creative process himself. With great result, he works with Alice Cicolini, a London-based jeweler who works on the designs with Idris and creates the technical drawings before sending them to artisans in Mumbai, India, who execute each piece.
In The New York Times in September 2025, Idris said about his ambitions for the brand: “I never wanted to make a line that consisted of pieces that I wasn’t excited about and I wouldn’t wear in my everyday life.”
If I understand the DIDRIS’ website correctly, the long-term plan is to collaborate with artisans and designers from all over the world in the future.

Not for everyone – and that is the point

It should be noted that DIDRIS is anything but inexpensive. And that is what makes it interesting. These pieces has a price to their name and this brand has gone down a totally different road from “the usual celebrity jewelry line” of mass-produced, cheaply made pieces with a famous name slapped on them. (The company did launch a more accessible, lower-priced ready-to-wear collection in the fall of 2025 but with prices starting at $1 200, I suppose you have to be a Hollywood starlet to find that “affordable”.)

And I, personally, applaud the brand for being willing to risk going down an expensive path. Not everything has to be for everybody – I am certainly not invited in, ha, ha – and that is what dreams are made of. Or as Damson Idris puts it himself: