5 January 2024 |
Erotica is laced through the fabric that makes up Betony Vernon. The in-demand jewellery designer, artist, author, sexologist and clinical hypnotherapist has spent the past 30 years devoted to pleasure.
She spearheaded a revolution in 1996 when she began selling her erotic jewellery collections at the age of just 21, much to the dismay of some of the US’s biggest retailers. “I was basically accused of being a pervert,” Vernon, now 55, says. “I believe in enhanced pleasure, but I understood that maybe I’d just hit a nerve. Of course, when you hit a nerve you know that you’ve done something interesting.”
She would spend the rest of the decade immersing herself in the creation of her now expansive erotic collection before moving to Paris in 2004. Her acclaimed pieces include double-sphere massage rings, sterling silver whip necklaces and Love Lock colliers, which come with shaft rings and the ability to be transformed into harnesses. “The jewellery allowed me to open a conversation that people were so scared to have, which is connected to the pleasure taboo,” she says. “My work is very much an amplification of the body. I want the wearer to know that they’re wearing something around their neck that everybody thinks is a piece of jewellery but has the power to do something else. They have superpowers, pleasure powers and connecting powers.”
Vernon’s “jewel tools”, designed in precious metals to“decorate the inside of the body as well as the outside”,are her vehicle to promote the importance of pleasure in our lives. In her cult bookThe Boudoir Bible, published by Rizzoli in 2013, Vernon discussed how we, as humans, can enhance our sharing capacities, while initiating the correct and safe use of her sensual instruments to help reach a place of sexual enlightenment. (Last year, the publishing house released Paradise Found, a “visual complement” to The Boudoir Bible that celebratesVernon’s three decades of work.)
Pleasure Puff Cocktail Ring
In 2022, after spending 18 years in the French capital, where alongside creating jewellery she pioneered a multitude of sensual wellness teachings, Vernon moved to Umbria, Italy, where she is building her own creative studios and experimental hub for the purpose of practising sexology, curative sharing and clinical hypnotherapy with her private clients.
“I started creating the jewellery when I was so young and I found myself in front of the ugly truth – sex is something that is not necessarily associated with pleasure, but trauma. My practice has evolved radically.I work a lot with people who are seeking to heal from the effects of abuse and sexual trauma,” Vernon says.“People often ask if it’s heavy for me to deal with victims of sexual abuse – it’s not. I’m not a sponge, I’m a portal.I want people to get to the other side of it. I truly believe that we are born to be happy and to discover life and all of its joys, including sexual joys. This is bigger than all of us.
Taken from 10+ Issue 6 – VISIONARY, WOMEN, REVOLUTION – out now. Order your copy here.
From left: Sterling Silver 925 and Ostrich Feathers Boudoir Box; Love Lock Collier, Sterling Silver 925; Unicorn, Sterling Silver 925; Ostrich Feather Tickler, Sterling Silver 925 and Ostrich Feather; Just Love O-Ring Cuff Kit Engraved, 24 Karats Gold and Sterling Silver 925
