In short: what Césart is
Césart is the jewellery line created by British-Korean designer Rejina Pyo. The brand describes it not as a "jewellery collection" in the usual sense but as a body of artful objects for the body and the home — some pieces are worn, some simply exist in a space. The forms draw on sculpture and organic shapes; the materials are traditional: brass with silver and gold plating, natural stones, mother of pearl.
The core idea, as the label itself puts it rather precisely, is that Césart balances London and Seoul sensibilities. This is neither Korean minimalist costume jewellery nor British vintage heaviness — it is what emerges at the intersection of the two.
If you are looking for jewellery that reads as an object but still goes on at eight in the morning under a jumper, this is exactly that territory.
Who Rejina Pyo is
You cannot understand Césart without its author, because the line grew directly out of a personal biography.
Rejina Pyo was born and raised in Seoul. In 2008 she moved to London, where she entered the MA Fashion Design programme at Central Saint Martins — one of the most influential fashion schools in the world. Her 2011 graduate collection was recognised with the Han Nefkens Award. After graduating she worked as a designer at the London house Roksanda, then founded her own eponymous brand — the label's official site gives 2013, while a number of publications cite 2014.
Over the following decade Rejina Pyo went from "young London brand" to a name with international weight. By 2020 the label had more than 100 stockists worldwide. Her clothes have been worn by Meghan Markle, Leandra Medine and Eva Chen. The 'Nane' bag from 2019 — a reinterpretation of the traditional Korean lunch box — entered the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and was shown in the exhibition Bags: Inside Out.
One detail matters for understanding Césart: Rejina Pyo built the brand as a complete world from the start, not as a clothing line. Bags, shoes and jewellery arrived early — by her own account this was a risk for a young label, but a
deliberate one: she wanted to show the whole world of the brand and speak to her audience directly. The Rejina Pyo 86 store on Golborne Road in London follows the same logic: a space where clothing sits alongside ceramics, furniture and art.
Where the aesthetic comes from: 19th-century sculpture and a mother's jewellery box
The first Césart series (Series I) was built around a specific collision of two sources: 19th-century sculpture, and the Art Deco jewellery that belonged to the designer's mother.
That description maps almost exactly onto what you see in the pieces.
From sculpture comes the sense of volume and hand-forming. The shapes look as though they were worked with fingers in clay and then cast in metal: coils, spirals, teardrop swells, uneven surface texture. Nothing machine-perfect.
From Art Deco comes the discipline. Symmetry, a repeating motif, a clean silhouette, coloured stone used as a graphic block. This is what keeps the pieces from tipping into art-object-for-its-own-sake.
Each subsequent series develops the same language. At the time of writing, the brand has reached its third — Series III.
The design code: five recurring motifs
Césart has a recognisable vocabulary of forms that runs through every category. If you are building a set from the brand, it helps to know these motifs — they combine with each other almost without exception.
1. Swirl
The line's central motif. A hand-coiled spiral with the texture of the metal left visible. It appears as an earring stud, as a chain link, as the anchor of a necklace. It is structural, not decorative.
2. Squiggle
A loose, wandering line, closer to a hand drawing than to geometry. It produces the most graphic and most conspicuous pieces in the collection.
3. Droplet
A suspended teardrop form, responsible for movement. Droplet earrings come alive when you turn your head — noticeably so in wear.
4. Pom Pom
A rounded, volumetric or clustered form, often in mother of pearl. The most object-like motif in the line: these earrings work as the single accent in an outfit.
5. Beaded
Natural stone beads strung into necklaces or suspended from earrings. This is what brings colour into the collection.
Materials: plated brass and natural stone
Worth being straightforward here, because it affects both the choice and the care.
Metal. The pieces are built on brass with silver or gold plating. This is not sterling silver and not solid gold. That material choice is standard for designer jewellery in this segment: it allows for large sculptural forms while staying light on the ear and sane on price.
Stones. Césart works with natural stone and organic material:
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Tiger's eye — warm golden-brown with a silky chatoyancy. A natural partner to gold plating.
Because the stones are natural, the shade and pattern of every piece differ. That is not a flaw but a property of the material — and worth stating plainly to the customer.
Weight. The brand specifically emphasises how light the pieces are. For jewellery at this scale that matters: sculptural earrings you cannot wear for more than an hour are a common failure in the category, and here it has been solved.
How to wear it: practical styling
Césart belongs to that category of jewellery that is easier to wear than the photographs suggest.
With basic knitwear. The strongest pairing. A fine-gauge jumper or cashmere in a neutral shade plus one sculptural piece. The contrast in texture does all the work.
With a shirt. Open collar plus the Petite Beaded Swirl Necklace worn short. A classic move that shifts an office shirt into another register.
Earrings and necklace as a pair. The brand deliberately designs matching pairs — the Swirl Bead Earrings and Beaded Swirl Necklace, for instance, or the Twirl Ring Vermeil and Cross Earrings. This is the rare case where a "set" does not look dated, because the motif is shared but the scale differs.
One accent only. For the high-volume pieces (Oblong Earrings, Donut Silk Cord Necklace) the rule is simple: they stand alone.
Evening. Earrings with black enamel - gold or silver - the most obvious and most reliable evening solution in the collection.
Caring for plated jewellery
These are general recommendations for plated brass with natural stones — they extend the life of a piece several times over.
- Put it on last. After perfume, creams, hairspray and make-up. Alcohol and oils are the main enemy of plating.
- Take it off before water. Shower, pool, sea, gym. Chlorine and salt water damage plating faster than anything else.
- Wipe after wearing. A soft dry cloth, no chemicals. Perspiration is corrosive too.
- Store pieces separately. In a pouch or its own compartment so items do not scratch one another. Keep dry and out of direct light — lapis and mother of pearl do not like direct sun.
- No ultrasonic cleaners, no silver polish. They strip plating and damage porous stones, lapis and mother of pearl in particular.
The takeaway
Césart by Rejina Pyo is the rare case where a clothing designer's jewellery line does not look like range extension for its own sake. It has its own source (19th-century sculpture and Art Deco from a family jewellery box), its own vocabulary of forms (swirl, squiggle, droplet, pom pom, beaded) and a very clear position between London and Seoul.
In practice these are pieces that give an outfit one strong note while remaining wearable daily. If the idea of "one piece instead of five" appeals to you, the logical starting points are the Swirl Bead Earrings or the Petite Beaded Swirl Necklace — and from there you expand within a single motif.
