In the early post-war years, jewellery began to be accepted as an art form or 'wearable art', expressing the character of the wearer as much as that of the designer. In liberating themselves from the conventions of traditional jewellery, designers looked back to the modernist principles of the Bauhaus and to earlier avant-garde art movements such as Surrealism, Cubism and Constructivism. This allowed them to create unique designs, often with a sculptural quality. Jewels of this period are often abstract in design, though they may use or refer to traditional motifs. Stones have unconventional shapes and their arrangement is often asymmetrical.

Sah Oved had little formal training. She studied at art school in Chichester but her studies were interrupted by the war. During the First World War she took evening classes in jewellery with war-crippled miners who were being trained for alternative employment and honed her skills under the Arts and Crafts jeweller John Paul Cooper. By 1924 she had her own workshop under the name of Miss Rendle, Doughty Street. In 1927 she worked with her partner Moshe Oved in the well-known shop 'Cameo Corner' near the British Museum, selling antique jewellery. Between 1934 and 47 they lived in Jerusalem, later returning to England.

Her jewellery was almost invariably made in response to private commissions, often incorporating stones or cameos from the shop's stock. The poet Edith Sitwell, the novelist Marghanita Laski and Nancy Cunard were among her clients.

'Life began in Water', the title alluding to the creation of life, has become an iconic piece of its period. Unintentionally and maybe through her spontaneous approach Oved broke away from conventions. The central ornament of the necklace is positioned off-centre, the fishes and water birds are abstract, and the cuts of the agates, jasper and aquamarines are unconventional. The choice of an asymmetrical design was quite unusual for its time.