The Girl with the Pearl Earring
Magnolia Designs: Timeless Pearls for Every Occasion

Magnolia Howard is a Broome resident with a passion for Broome Pearls which runs deep within her veins. Magnolia's preference for pearls has seen her work almost exclusively with stunning Australian pearls.  Magnolia brings over 15 years of experience to working and designing her statement pieces.

Magnolia Designs was conceived at a pivot point in Magnolia’s jewellery career. In 2018 she was offered a promotion from her position of Wholesale and Jewellery Production to Retail Manager at a renowned Australian pearling business. The offer of a promotion and change in job role brought about a moment of pause. After much deliberation she turned down the job offer and accompanying huge pay jump, to pursue a more creative direction.
 

Having been in the industry for over 15+ years, she realised that she should give herself a shot at creating both a business and jewellery range that she could be truly proud of. She resigned from her job and began the journey of Magnolia Designs that is now in its fifth year.

She didn’t know what kind of business she wanted to develop, but a few things were clear to her. It needed to be Australian made and showcase the best of what Australia has to offer. It needed to be more than jewellery; it needed to be emotive - translating a story through metal. More than a piece of jewellery, it needed to be a bookmark in time, capturing the moment in precious metal.

Having listened to many business podcasts, Magnolia was determined to create a mission statement for Magnolia Designs. She wanted a core ethos to her brand that would protect both her creativity and pave a path for the future of the business. From that was born Magnolia Designs’ focus and purpose:
 
‘Passion for great design, forged in metal, to withstand time. Let your legacy live on.’

It was an all or nothing move that has quickly become one of the most rewarding endeavours Magnolia has ever taken on. She has found Magnolia Designs to be all encompassing, in that she is very deliberate in taking the time to make decisions that will suit the direction of her life and business into the future.

Legacy building has been the centre of her focus for a long time now. She aspires to bring that deliberate, often slow and considered method of making, into all aspects of the Magnolia Designs brand, from customers’ interactions to the making of her very own leather packaging. She believes that good things come with time. It is of deep importance to her that the products she creates are from Australian materials, Australian owned and Australian made.
Today, five years into her business she can say she’s never been happier, she makes jewellery she loves, designs that are exclusive to Magnolia Designs - classically made but with a modern twist. She has the best clients, and together they make legacy pieces, infused with a collective passion for design and love - universal love embodied and imbued in the jewellery she crafts by hand.
Magnolia says the easiest way to describe what she does is to ask you to picture a blacksmith, and then once you have that image in mind, imagine it’s on a smaller scale and with gold. That’s the quickest way to describe the processes involved in jewellery manufacture and working as a goldsmith.
Jewellery production is a very physical and laborious trade. A lot of what she does is dirty work, involving acids, polishing compound, and a manner of chemicals and tools. The finished product does not resemble the process it was crafted through – the shine of freshly polished gold is irresistible and a long way from the flux, fire scale and acid pot it took to make it. Every piece at Magnolia Designs is exclusive, designed and crafted by Magnolia. Working with the world’s most exquisite Australian South Sea Cultured Pearls, Australian Opals, Australian Sapphires and Australian Diamonds, all pieces crafted by those hands in Australia.
For the past five years Magnolia Designs has been Magnolia’s fulltime business. She also volunteers at The Broome Community Stallholders Association as the Chairperson. When she is not crafting bespoke jewellery, she can be found out in nature soaking up the beauty of the pristine and remote Kimberley region, which seeps into her designs. She always attempts to encapsulate the beauty of nature in timeless precious metal.
 
Lack of hours in the day - or the inability to clone herself or have more arms - is her biggest daily challenge! She is guilty (as most small business owners are) of having nothing but passion for the business she runs; she lives and breathes it. It occupies most of her thoughts and is all consuming, a labour of love.
Magnolia is blessed to have the support of her favourite people, all cheering her on and getting involved wherever they can to support her. This has allowed her business to grow and for her to begin to expand the reach Magnolia Designs has outside of her immediate environs of Broome. Without the love and support of her mother and sister, Magnolia would not be here right now. The decision to leave her full-time job, and to back herself was a big ask. Without the love and support of these two incredible women she would never have taken that leap of faith. She is forever indebted to them both for their passionate speeches and reminders of the unique greatness Magnolia has to offer the world.
Her inaugural ‘Temple’ collection is a dedication to her Mumma who passed in 2021 – a homage to a childhood spent in Broome with the smell of frangipani flowers in the tropical air and littering the pindan ground, her Mumma would pick them for her hair and tuck them behind her ear. The Temple collection is about celebrating moments like these, love shared through flowers, from a mother to her daughter, from one sister to another – with Temple this love is shared.
 
Magnolia looks forward to the day Magnolia Designs is synonymous with the big international names in design and high-end luxury goods. She has plans to take her brand international. She believes the European market has a refined sense of design and would appreciate her fresh take on pearl jewellery as well as her passion for cocktail and dress rings.
When asked about what Magnolia loves about Perth Upmarket, she said:
 
“I love the location of Upmarket at UWA’s Winthrop Hall, and the focus on local creation and Australian business. Markets like these provide such a great outlet for small scale creatives like me and showcase the incredible variety out there for consumers.”
When asked to tell us more about Temple, Magnolia said:
 
“‘Temple’ is my inaugural collection for Magnolia Designs. Paying homage to a childhood in Broome, filled with the intoxicating scent of Temple flowers in the tropical air. Grounds littered with the white blooms provide vivid imaginary common to the streets and parks of Broome. When my doting mother, picked and placed the flowers in my hair, Temple lit my face, and its scent filled the air. I made this collection to celebrate love and divine moments like these. Moments like these are formed in gold and will last a lifetime. They carry with them the place and grace of the ephemeral flower.
 
A symbol of sacred and natural beauty; Plumeria flowers have a history of presence in special places. A most loved ornamental, Plumeria, in its many colourful forms is known as Frangipani, West Indian Jasmine and Temple Tree. The beautiful, scented flowers are used as temple offerings; they adorn the places of worship and quiet corners in homes. Many meanings are imbued by the presence of the fragrant Temple flower. Love, birth, immortality, and devotion. The Temple flowers ignite passion, their scent travels through the tropical air, the classical beauty of this five petal flower litters the earth they rest on.
 
As you might expect I hand-picked the first of these Temple flowers in gold for my mother on Mother’s Day to say thank you for the unconditional love and support. And for my Lil’ Sis’ for her Masters graduation. Temple, the collection, is formed in gold for you and your beloved ones to cherish. When a mother picks a flower for her daughter to adorn her hair, when sisters pick a flower for one another, when one lover picks a flower for another; with Temple, the love is shared. May it light your face with a smile and fill your heart a glow when you wear it.”

- Magnolia.
We loved learning more about Magnolia’s passion for her craft, and hope you enjoyed the lyrically written insight into her collections, and into the birth of Magnolia Designs.

You can find Magnolia and her one-of-a-kind pieces, at Perth Upmarket on Sunday 19th March at UWA or find her here:
 
https://www.magnoliahoward.com/