The manhunt by the largest jewelery houses enters a new chapter: Louis Vuitton offers a collection reserved for him. Or, more precisely, inspired by Louis Vuitton’s grandson, Gaston-Louis Vuitton. He is the Frenchman who, after the founder, managed the brand for half a century which became famous for its suitcases and bags, and is now a fashion icon. The Les Gastons Vuitton collection is made up of 18 pieces in white and yellow gold, with the addition of precious diamonds.
But not only. For some jewels, dark blue titanium was chosen, a color reminiscent of raw denim and widely used in men’s wardrobes. Even though it is a collection for men, the Maison highlights how the jewelery design can also be suitable for women. The collection is divided into chapters, i.e. product lines. The collection includes necklaces with tags, chevalier rings, bracelets. The jewels bear the classic logo of the French brand clearly visible. Prices range between approximately 5,000 euros (or dollars) and 67,000 for the white gold and diamond necklace, up to 157,000 for the Masterpiece Gourmet necklace with more than 13 carats of white diamonds. For men who spare no expense for their jewellery.
Lylie’s zero impact jewels
Eliza Walter founded the Lylie brand. It is the first fully circular economy jewelery brand in the UK: 100% of the metal used comes from the innovative Gold Exchange system, which it organized itself. It works like this: Customers can recycle their gold and silver jewelry that they no longer use. They send them via a postal envelope, even a reusable one, to Lylie. In exchange they receive a credit of equivalent value, which is used to purchase Lylie jewelery of equal or greater value. This way you can buy a piece of jewelery and, at the same time, reduce your carbon footprint. Additionally, all diamonds and gemstones used are antique, lab-grown or recycled stones.
Not only. Eliza has also worked on the problem of electronic waste. The brand has launched the Closed Loop Club, an e-waste recycling initiative designed to encourage consumers to recycle their obsolete electrical appliances in exchange for Lylie credit. For her work Eliza has received a special mark of recovery from the Birmingham Assay Office.
Eliza founded the jewelry brand in 2017 as a sign of respect for the environment: even the jewelry has organic shapes, like the Sea Treasures series, which Eliza designed in response to the global destruction of coral reefs, or Gathering Clouds, inspired by the sky . Prices start from £70 for simple recycled silver pendants and go up to £11,000 for bespoke ethical engagement rings. She is a staunch vegetarian and only wears vintage or second-hand clothes. Her studio, which is based in west London, has been furnished entirely with recycled furniture and wallpapers.
When did you start working with jewelry?
I made my first cast piece of silver jewellery when I was 15 and completing my GCSEs – as a business, we still work closely with the same casting house. In 2015 when I graduated from University, I moved to London and did my goldsmiths training in Britain’s historic jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden, whilst working two side jobs. I went on to launch LYLIE Jewellery in October 2017, whilst working full time in the Post War & Contemporary Art-world, where I worked for 4 years whilst building the side hustle into a business.
How did you learn the goldsmith technique?
I honed my understanding through the year I spent training at the bench in Hatton Garden, and then through osmosis doing a design internship at a Bond Street jewellers. It’s a constant learning curve, each collection we launch or occasional bespoke project we are lucky enough to be asked to work on requires some new area of understanding and I relish it.
How would you define your style?
Classical in style with a sustainable mindset. Aesthetically when designing I am inspired by the cycle of rebirth. Look out for circular ball details in our designs, which recall life-giving rejuvenation and is our hidden signature.
What kind of women wear your jewelry?
Whats amazing about our jewellery is how cross generational it seems to be. For example, our Ayida Coral Hoops are worn by three women of different generations from the same family. Similarly, in my own family the Ocean Pinkie Wave Ring is a hit, my late Grandmother wore it, my mother wears it and my sister-in-law and I do too. We have 3 main groups of women who we appeal too, women in their early 20s, beginning to exchange/invest in jewellery (typically these are the gold dipped silver pieces). Women in their late 20/30s getting engaged who come to us for their ethical engagement rings, wedding bands and wedding jewels. And finally, women in the 50s/60s who are remodelling the jewellery they have to suit the ways their style, and often hands, have changed over time. We value each one of our customers and are extremely proud of ur 5.0* rating across Reviews.io and Google.
Is environmentally sustainable jewelry really important?
To us, its critical. As is often wrongly assumed, a conflict free diamond does not equate to a diamond free from human rights abuses and environmental harm. We wholeheartedly believe that the beauty of a stone cannot be divorced from the source. There is no beauty in cruelty. To avoid any doubt over sourcing, we exclusively use lab-grown and recycled-antique diamonds. Similarly, we introduced our Gold Exchange recycling initiative over lockdown, to encourage customers to reconsider what they have and recycle what they don’t use, and its proven incredibly popular and now is the source of all our gold for the collection designs. We are so proud of the sustainable credentials our jewellery has.
Is circular jewelry really possible?
Yes, absolutely. Its a lot more involved, often needing lateral creative thinking, but its absolutely possible.
Are those who buy jewelry aware of your choice?
We never give consumers enough credit for the purchasing power they have. Our customers typically have educated themselves on the choices they are making and opt to go with us because of this. It’s been amazing to see the growing appetite for lab grown diamonds, for example, since I made my first lab-grown diamond engagement ring for a forward-thinking customer in 2018. Now millennial and Gen-Zs take the attitude, I can have something that is optically and visually the same, better value, and has clarity over its sourcing – why on earth wouldn’t I!
The sea in Desigual jewels
From Barcelona, the Desigual fashion brand launches Almar, its second jewelery collection: it is inspired by the sea. The collection includes about twenty pieces in brass with silver or 18-karat gold plating, with the addition of cubic zirconia in some cases. The jewels were designed by Gala Meyer, founder of the Zalio brand and daughter of the founder of the Catalan brand, Thomas Meyer. The fashion brand, therefore, also extends its offer to accessible jewelery (maximum price under 150 euros, but starting from 69.5 euros). The collection is on sale online at desigual.com and in Spain in four stores: the Desigual flagship stores in Madrid and Barcelona, in the T1 store at Barcelona airport and in the Passeig de Mare Nostrum store. The collection includes rings, earrings, pendants, chokers and bracelets, made with motifs such as broken shells, coral textures, stars, abstract suns and flashes of soft colored stones.
In these jewels two energies throb in harmony: one that I interpret as eminently feminine, which refers to the sea and the shapes of shells and corals and their relationship with the matrix; another more masculine, which comes from fire and the sun. I believe that each person, according to their internal balance of forces and energies, can connect with one or the other.
Gala Meyer, designer
The name Almar derives from the union of two words in Spanish, soul (alma) and sea (mar). As if to say that the great expanse of water is also a reason for deep reflection on oneself. And also the memory of when the designer collected, like all children, shells collected on the beach. In short, a jewel, but also a vaguely Proustian symbol (if you haven’t read the Recherche you can always fix it). It is the second collection designed by Gala Meyer, a graduate in Visual Arts at Bennington College in Vermont (USA). The designer began experimenting with jewelry while pregnant and created her own brand, Zalio.
Phillips House from a cork to luxury
Phillips House, a jewelry brand born from the cork of a wine bottle. Phillips House, based in Miami, Florida, has a rather unusual history. The genesis would begin with founder Lisa Phillips’ first date at 17 with her future husband, Robert Frankel. An occasion bathed by Lisa from a 1955 Château Léoville Poyferré. A fine wine which, due to its pleasant taste, or for the pleasant company, induced Lisa Phillips Frankel to keep the bottle cap. Then transformed into a pendant to which she added an 18-karat gold element, and tied to a leather lace. The first signs of the passion for jewelry, then continued in the following years in an unstructured way, even if Lisa Phillips has a background in financial studies at Boston University, where she was born.
Years later, in 2009, her passion was transformed into a profession. Phillips House was born with the addition of daughter Danielle Frankel Nemiroff, designer of the Maison with a passion for dance and fashion, as well as the administrative contribution of her son and husband. Now the brand is a point of reference for the Miami area. 18 or 14 carat gold and diamonds are the basic elements of Phillips House jewels, often with an original design, without being bizarre.
The color evolution of Andy Lif
He worked in New York, but also in Rome, where he also opened a small workshop. He is now based in Los Angeles, but goes on vacation to Greece: Andy Lifschutz, founder of the Andy Lif brand, is an American jewelry designer who loves to create unique and lively pieces. To make them he also uses the tricky plique-à-jour technique which consists of an ancient glazing procedure that dates back to the late Roman era. He has updated the technique to make rings and bracelets with brilliant colors, enriched with precious stones mounted on gold and white diamonds of VS clarity and EF color. Over time his jewels have gone from being avant-garde experiments to pieces that a wider audience can wear.
The Andy Lifschutz story began in Brooklyn with designer Kristin Hanson. The discovery of the world of jewelry and design then led him to the University of Portland, Oregon, with the teaching of Gunnar Adamoviks and even to the Sterling Quest School of Jewelry Design and Creation in Mexico. In short, a lot of experience. Andy Lifschutz is married to an actress and dancer, with whom he has two children.
The two souls of State Property
Lin Ruiyin and Afzal Imram: they are the two who founded a jewelry brand with a rather unusual name: State Property. More than publicly owned, however, the jewels created by the Singapore-based couple quickly become the property of design jewelery lovers. The secret of success lies, perhaps, in the combination of the different experiences of the founders, between jewelery and industrial design. Lin Ruiyin trained at Central St Martins in London. Afzal Imram, on the other hand, studied Industrial Design at the National University of Singapore, with personal works that have been exhibited in Milan and Paris, as well as in the Asian city.
By their very definition, the brand navigates between art, design, and traditional craftsmanship. Precious stones, enamel, refined lines, a certain allusion to the art deco style and innovative shapes are the aspects that most distinguish State Property. The jewels of the Asian brand are tuned to the tastes of the Western public: they are sold not only in Singapore, but also in the United States and the United Kingdom. And the Maison boasts the appreciation of women like Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman and Lady Gaga.
The New York jewels of Mason and Books
Jewelery with elaborate, modern shapes, with a touch of colour, where the design balances the use of stones, often cut and set in a creative way: Mason and Books is one of the New York brands that occupies the fine jewelery space. She’s also one of the youngest: she debuted in 2021, but her creator, Jemie Books, has a long career behind her. Born in the big American city, she has covered the chapters of her career in the world of fashion and accessories, before diving headlong into jewelry. After studying at Camberwell College of the Arts, she was managing director of the jewelery brand Julie Baker Design, but she was also involved in handbags and small leather goods at Kara Ross and chief operating officer at Hayward Finesse, another accessories brand.
Even if jewels, she says, have always been one of her passions. Dream that came true. Her name from her brand includes her daughter’s second name, Mason, and her son’s initials, Miller. The jewels are made in a laboratory in New York City, while the designer takes care of the conception and prepares the sketches.
Eden Presley the second life of Gwen Myers
He is self taught. He started working at an Italian restaurant, Trattoria Dell’Arte, in New York and went on to a job in marketing at The Fireman Hospitality Group. So how did Gwen Myers manage to become a jewelry designer with her brand, Eden Presley? The avenues of jewelry are endless but, in this case, they also received help from their husband: the first jewels produced by the designer, in fact, were gifts that she modified and allowed her to take her first steps into the world of precious jewels. And the name of the Maison? Simple: Eden Presley brings together that of her two daughters.
Gwen Myers’ business has been going on since 2010 and continues successfully. To characterize the jewels of the Maison are above all the colored gems, often used with unusual combinations and in large numbers. Tourmalines or emeralds, labradorite or moonstone plus, as always, diamonds, are gathered in clusters or in sequence on rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings, mounted on 14-karat gold or silver. It is an elegant, colorful type of jewelry designed to be worn every day.
Elior in pills
Elior Mordechai’s biography in a nutshell (or pills) indicates that he began his jewelry career at the age of 14, when he spent his summers interning at his family’s Wholesale Diamond Jewelry Company. There, he explains, his passion for rare gems was born, as he learned to classify diamonds and develop them from rough stones to gems for jewellery. The mention of pills is not accidental: the designer, who works in New York with the Elior brand, offers a series of jewels inspired by the shape of medicinal capsules. Bracelets, earrings or rings have the typical shape of a pill as a pendant or as a final element, a repeated shape in 18-carat yellow or white gold, with or without diamond pavé or multicolored sapphires.
Elior, however, has no connections with the world of pharmacy, but studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he specialized in metalworking and then at the New York Jewelry Design Institute, focusing on the creative aspect of design through sketching and painting in gouache. And he underlines that his style is influenced by the oriental tradition: his grandfather was an antiques dealer of Persian origin.
Artëmer’s art of jewelry
Since 2011 Artëmer has been a point of reference for design jewelery lovers. On its side it has the ability of designers, but also the fact of being in the middle of one of the world’s largest diamond districts, that of Tel Aviv, in Israel. The studio was founded by a young couple who wanted to spend every day, Tanya and Tomer. Both are graduates of the Academy of Art and Design. Tomer worked as a jeweler after her education and Tanya graduated as a video artist and worked for a start-up. In their bio, the couple tells the beginning of the story as something fortuitous.
Tomer was fired from his job and started working on Tanya’s engagement ring, instead of looking for another job as an employee. The ring became the first jewel of the Maison. The brand’s style is minimalist, but not too much. Aligned baguette-cut stones form clusters of gems, mostly diamonds, which enrich the rings, the most present type in a truly vast catalogue. All produced in the TLV Studio which is located in the Diamond Exchange District of Israel.
The new jewels with pleats by Nak Armstrong
Texan jeweler Nak Armstrong celebrated its 25th year in business with a space in the historic luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Nak Armstrong is also a member of the CFDA (American Fashion Designers Association). It’s a further step forward for Armstrong, who opened his flagship store in Austin, Texas a couple of years ago. The designer is considered a re-inventor of the chandelier earring. The jeweler is internationally recognized for his innovations from standard metalworking techniques and an experimental aesthetic.
Nak Armstrong launched the first collection in early 2011, quickly bought by Barneys, New York. The style reflects his experience in architecture and fashion: he has developed his own technique of processing gems, which he calls “pleated stone”, with proprietary cuts. SI was also inspired by origami, the technique of creating small folded paper objects after a trip to Japan. Armstrong had co-founded Anthony Nak with partner, Anthony Camargo, of which he remained designer and creative director until 2010, when the two separated and Nak continued with his brand.
One Thousand and One Nights with Noudar
The Perfumes of the One Thousand and One Nights in the Noudar Jewels collections ♦
The perception of uses and customs associated with the Arab world is conditioned by the chronicle and, sometime, preconceptions. In fact, the world, even the Arabic one, is not all the same thing. As you can see with the Noudar Jewels brand, the word derives from the ancient Arabic word meaning gold. Images from the Noudar catalog are enough to display a different image of the woman from what she usually circulates. You can see the pictures on this page.
To found the Maison, of which he is a designer, is Noor Al Fardan. As you can easily predict, jewels combine the curls and oriental volutes, with a luxury that also wants to be appreciated in the West. In short, the heritage of Arabic and Islamic culture, in particular of Oman’s traditional patterns, reminiscent of mosaics and drawings at henna, along with much simpler and more sober jewels, in classic yellow or pink gold, along with diamonds or emeralds . Imagine them in the famous cave of Aladino in One Thousand and One Nights.
The new Saint Laurent jewels
On the catwalk of Saint Laurent now also the fine jewelry. Quality jewels, not just fashion jewelry, that is jewels of non-precious materials, which focus more on the brand than on the quality of the object. In short, the creative director Anthony Vaccarello presented an evolution of the brand that is part of the French group Kwering. The line is characterized above all by the materials used: 18-karat gold, with the choice of focusing on recycled gold and diamonds. From the point of view of form, the jewels are consistent with the style of the Maison: elegance that is not hidden, but rigorous.
The line includes rings, but above all large bracelets, alongside earrings formed by the famous brand. Some of the jewels, however, are thin and clearly show the house logo. However, these are not jewels linked to a particular fashion trend. Wide bracelets and large chains are shapes that always remain wearable, year after year. The jewels can be purchased online, as well as in the stores in Paris, Monaco and Saint-Tropez, with prices ranging from less than 700 euros to almost 7,000.
The vintage jewelry of today with Jenna Blake
Designing jewelry in Los Angeles today. Jewels of yesterday. Or, rather, that they have a slightly vintage flavor. This is what Jenna Grosfeld, who founded her brand Jenna Blake, does. The designer, wife with three children of the financier and real estate developer Jason Grosfeld, has decided to develop her passion for the jewels of the past: she has been collecting vintage jewels for years and draws inspiration from there. Of course, her jewels are not copies, but new interpretations of some shapes which, according to her, are particularly creative. She loves, above all, art deco and French jewels from the 1940s such as those by Bucheron and René Boivin.
She has been doing this for 15 years now, creating modernized interpretations of classic designs. They are jewels, explained the designer, which do not follow the fashion of the moment, but are destined to last over time. In short, Jenna Blake jewels present themselves as the antithesis of trendy. They are those to be left as an inheritance or, in any case, to be worn throughout life. The style is a mix of all these ideas: very art deco, some pendants that seem almost from the early decades of the twentieth century, gold, diamonds and semi-precious stones such as malachite.
One year after its debut in the fine jewelry category, the Spanish brand PdPaola is expanding its collection, which uses 95% of the jewels in the collection of recycled gold. Combined with 18-karat gold, they are lab grown diamonds, that is, created by man through complicated procedures, but from a chemical point of view very similar to those extracted from the earth. With the second release of the PdPaola collection, it introduced rigid bracelets, solid gold chain necklaces and ear piercings, again with diamonds.
The idea of adding a higher level collection to affordable jewels must have been appreciated by buyers, given that the Maison expects to increase its turnover, which in 2021 was almost 30 million euros. The brand expects to close 2022 with a turnover of 52 million and, in addition, announces that it will continue to focus on its international expansion with the opening of new stores and flagship stores. PdPaola jewels are now available in 2,000 points of sale in ten international markets through its wholesale system. Together with the turnover, the number of employees also increased (+ 30%) which exceeded 80 units, 74% of whom are women.
Sarah Noor, minimal made in London
The minimal, but elegant and colorful jewels of the London Maison Sarah Noor ♦
At just 26 years old, in 2014, the British designer Sarah Alhassan gave birth to her brand, Sarah Noor. She also opened a boutique in London and managed to get accepted in some prestigious online stores. In short, in a few months you have achieved a goal that others reach in years or never. Whatever her secret weapons are for a flash career, it must be noted that Sarah Alhassan has no shortage of skills to present herself on the jewelry market. The design is modern, linear, but without forgetting the charm of colored stones as well as classic diamonds. She herself explained that she starts from the classic jewel models and then makes the lines simpler and more minimal.
The two collections of her debut, Pretty Little Things and Pyramid, are still the ones receiving acclaim. The idea is to offer precious jewels, but also suitable for everyday life, thanks to the not too showy character of the design. Lucid, on the other hand, is a capsule collection created with a glass-like resin, set with cubic zirconia stones positioned in a linear design of a circle silhouette, which the designer considers “an exploration of kaleidoscopic elements of a dream world and of natural composition of light “.
He was born in Alessandria, Piedmont, and studied in the Italian capital of high jewelry, Valenza, but Danilo Giannoni now is working in Singapore with his Giamore. After studying and making in jewelry, Giannoni discovered that Velenza was too small for his projects. And so he moved to New York, where he opened a service company for major jewelry brands. He collaborated with companies such as Bulgari, Damiani and Crivelli, before moving again, to Hong Kong.
In 2012 he founded two companies: Senso Italiano, dedicated to design and art (which became a second job) and Giamore, for the production of jewelery with a tailor-made service. Finally, he moved to Singapore, where he married: marriage (and children) convinced him to stop in the city-state. Giamore specializes in the research and acquisition of rare stones, especially colorless and colored diamonds, in the production of bespoke or fine jewelry, but in parallel continues the service activity for the big brands, for example to resize the jewelry on Asian customer measurements. M.d.B.
Given that Bulgari’s goal is to exceed the sales of Cartier and Tiffany, all brands of the same family, French giant Lvmh, it is obvious that the Italian company focuses on jewelry capable of convincing the highest possible number of people. And goes in this direction B.Zero1 Rock, collection that is an extension of the successful jewelry line launched 20 years ago. Celebrated as always with a maxi event full of celebrities, the jewelry collection is a variant of the B.Zero1 mother line, with bracelets, earrings and rings with the band of two different widths.
Like many other jewelry houses, Bulgari points out that the new collection is unisex. The male public, in particular, is the one on which the attention is most concentrated: so far man has been offered chains with a military type plate, leather or hard steel bracelets. Now, however, the jewelry companies are aiming to also wear gold and precious stones to the male public. After all, rappers have been doing this for some time, right?
caption id=”attachment_80347″ align=”aligncenter” width=”709″] Orecchini in oro rosa e ceramica nera[/caption]
The jewels of the B.Zero1 Rock collection are always made with the shape of the original collection: a band with two thick edges, with a result that vaguely recalls the Colosseum. The central band recalls the Tubogas technique, which Bulgari adopted in the 1940s, while the two edges protrude and carry the characteristic double Bulgari logo, with the V replacing the U. The studs, however, justify the word rock. In addition to pink and yellow gold, the jewels use black ceramic and diamonds.
By the way: why the name B.Zero1? Here is the answer: B stands for Bulgari, while zero1 refers to the Maison’s first collection in the new millennium: these jewels, in fact, were launched in 1999.
The new Madagascar collection presented by Casato at VicenzaOro. The protagonists are topazes, amethysts and lemon quartz ♦ ︎
Madagascar is a large island located off the southern coast of Africa. But above all, it is a dream for those who love the sea and nature. It is a country where there are thousands of animal species, such as lemurs, which do not live anywhere else in the world, among rainforests, beaches and coral reefs. Not only: near the capital, Antananarivo, is the fascinating archaeological site of Ambohimanga, a complex of royal palaces and burials that stands on the top of some hills, among secular baobabs. All this to explain how, in the collective imagination, Madagascar is a place full of charm.
Now Madagascar it is also a new jewelery collection, presented at VicenzaOro September by Casato. It is inevitable that the exotic charm of the African country is interpreted through the color of stones such as blue topaz, amethyst and lemon quartz. They are jewels that give great visibility and the security of not going unnoticed. Like in the large necklace composed of topazes that cover all the shades from blue to total transparency. Or the bracelet where the colored stones are dotted with small diamonds.
Geometric Mania
Mania Zamani’s architectural jewels, Iranian designer who live and work in New York ♦ ︎
It may be that the name does not affect the destiny of people. In the case of Mania Zamani, however, the coincidence might be happy. Mania, in many languages, has a double meaning, positive or negative, according to the circumstances in which the word is applied. Mania, in the sense of dedication, passion, continuous interest, has a positive meaning. The mania of Mania Zamani (but you pronounces Mània) is jewelery and is a good fortune for everyone.
Born in Iran, Mania she has left its country with all its beauty and limitations. She moved to New York to translate into jewelery to what she has been her passion since childhood: architecture and minerals. In Iranian culture, precious gemstones and gold are given to infants and brides. Jewelery thus becomes a symbol of deep bonds with family and friends.
Architecture and mineralogy have combined with the study of mathematics, the basis of all nature and connected to the calculation of geometry, that is, the proportions. She also studied gemmology and fashion. Now this mix of Oriental scent, aseptic numbers and passion has become a jewelery designer’s work, which has a good success in New York. Lavinia Andorno