Brazilian jewellery designer Graziela Kaufman presents her first pearl collection, Perola.
Jewellery designer Graziela Kaufman’s introduces freshwater pearls for the first time in her Pérola collection. Composed of earrings, bracelets, rings and a necklace, the jewellery line is complemented with emeralds, apatites and London Blue topaz stones from her home country, Brazil.
The designer has been wanting to design a pearl line for as long as she can remember. “I wanted to create a colourful and super wearable pearl collection with the face and DNA of Graziela Gems and I just wasn’t sure if people would love my ideas as much as I did. This year I decided to go for it,” says Graziela, who started designing the pieces over a year ago although she had all the ideas aligned for a very long time.
The designer, noted for her coloured gems and love of Paraiba tourmalines, has sourced all the pearls for her Pérola line from Japan. “I’m pretty rough on my jewellery and even though freshwater pearls are delicate, they are the most durable, the hardest to peel or scratch out of all pearls. I wanted a collection that people wouldn’t be afraid of wearing. Since the mussels that produce the pearls produce many at a time, their price is also more affordable than all other pearls. I also love a good South Sea pearl but not for these designs,” she elaborates.
The Chicago-based designer wanted her pearl line to be different than anything else on the market; it had to be “modern, sexy, flowing designs of coloured gems mixed with pearls.” So, she created pieces that are “very wearable, not so serious and traditional” in a tranquil colour palette, with pearls clustered around “unusual silhouettes like ear cuffs, hoops and climbers to feel fresh and magical.”
The silhouette, she explains, is informed by shapes favoured by her clients; these forms also accentuate their features. “I created pieces like the front hoops and the inside-out based on those. And then I added the snail shell, the waterfall on the necklace and bracelets and some more nature-inspired designs.” The colours of Brazilian nature, apatite and emerald exist in a merry combination with lustrous freshwater pearl with the London Blue topaz for accent. “Can you imagine? A colourful, sexy pearl collection,” she muses.