When Paula Doebrich landed in New York City in 2018 to begin a master’s in public health at NYU, jewellery design was nowhere on her radar. The Warsaw-born former model had already reinvented herself once, swapping runways for a nutrition-consultancy practice, yet something still felt missing. In New York, she finally paused long enough to hear an inner voice. “I was unable to reconnect with myself and understand what I want to do in life — design jewellery.”
That whisper grew into Meluzza, the fine-jewellery house Paula founded in 2024 to turn personal stories into miniature treasures.
The name is an ode to Melusine, the sword-wielding mermaid who guards Warsaw. “She’s fearless and protective—exactly like the women I create for,” Paula says. It also honours her split upbringing between Poland and Germany. “Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” This emotion, and philosophy, is what allows Paula to creatively segue between seasons, continents and moods through her designs.
Scouted at 13 years of age, Paula spent a decade modelling while peers wrote essays and were swamped with assignments. Later, degrees in nutrition science and public health proved she was more than a pretty face, yet jewellery designing offered her the ideal synthesis of intellect, craft and emotion. Whether a ring recalls memories of eating watermelon on sunny beach or earrings echo the nostalgia surrounding her beloved cherry tree, each Meluzza piece invites its wearer to carry a story forward. “I couldn’t care less about trends,” Paula shares. “Meluzza is how I share my world.”
True to her scientific bent, Paula approached the bench methodically, taking gemmology classes at the Gemological Association of America (GIA) and jewellery making at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) stopping short of formal diplomas to channel funds into her nascent label.
She favours 18-karat yellow gold, materials “in their natural state,” along with platinum for its frosty strength; she is, however, open to using white gold when technically required.
Expect future pieces to feature alexandrite, rare garnets and other colour-shifting stones. Master goldsmiths in Manhattan execute her designs. “It takes decades to perfect the craft; my job is to envision, theirs to conjure.” Local production, she adds, helps those ateliers survive.
Meluzza’s debut capsule lines translate Paula’s nomadic memories into vivid gems: The collection Endless Summer displays watermelon-bright sapphires and pistachio hued demantoids from Madagascar strewn across wavy rings that remind you of sun-drenched afternoons; while Playful Cherries emerges as a riff on a girlhood game, draping vivid rhodolite “fruit” beneath tsavorite leaves for a wink of irreverence. “I always played with the double cherries, placing them against my ear, and pretending they were earrings,” she shares, elaborating on her inspiration. Rather than choosing a predictable combination of ruby and emerald, she pairs the cherry jewellery with vivid red rhodolite with tsavorite leaves to keep the fruit “deliciously unexpected.” You Are My Sunshine, which Paula presented in September, is informed by myths and love envisioned after a trip to Venice in 2023, “where I kept seeing the sun symbol; it reminded me of the ancient symbols I saw as a child and the Greek myths I loved so much.”
In Winter Wonderland, she lifts her blue and purple sapphire decked starfish into the night sky, while setting icy constellations sparkle with star-shaped natural diamonds and round Paraiba Tourmaline from Brazil. “I have always liked the mystical feeling of a long winter night, a sky full of stars, and all the stories and myths that surround this time of the year.”
Her latest offering released this May, New Beginnings blossoms around the lily-of-the-valley (konwalia in Polish lore), whose white bells symbolise purity and returning happiness. As girls, Paula and her sister scoured their grandmother’s garden each 1st of May for birthday bouquets; the flowers heralded both celebration and impending summer. “No matter how chilly spring felt, the flowers always bloomed on time. They meant celebration — and that summer was just around the corner,” she remembers. The collection translates that optimism into 18-karat yellow gold and platinum: gleaming blossoms and rows of crisp white pearls punctuated with lily-bud caps — airy ear climbers tracing the helix; dainty ring and bracelet where pearls ‘blossom.’ Beauty here is not passive ornament but protective power, notes the designer. Ultimately, Meluzza is about emotion bottling up “a child’s joy and hope for a fun summer” in the New Beginnings and the Lily of The Valley pieces.
In an industry preoccupied with trends, Paula lets narrative, nostalgia and the quiet power of precious things guide her brand.