Designer Jewelry for Children – The New York Times

“After I was possibly 3 years previous or so, I used to be given a gold bracelet with dragons on it from my grandmother,” Diane Neuville stated on a video name from Versailles, France, the place she lives and works. “My mom is Vietnamese, and in Vietnam jewellery in gold with gems is given to youngsters and handed down from mom to daughter. It’s symbolic, like a message of affection from the household.”

So 4 years in the past, when the 34-year-old jeweler had a daughter, she wished to provide her a present of valuable jewellery, designed for a kid. “I regarded round” and located nothing, “so I made a decision to make my very own,” she stated. The consequence, which debuted final yr, is Les Pierres d’Anna (the Gem stones of Anna), a model named for her 4-year-old daughter.

Ms. Neuville makes use of 18-karat rose and yellow gold with emeralds from Brazil, blue Ceylon sapphires from Sri Lanka and pink, purple and yellow sapphires from Madagascar. “I’ve at all times been amazed by the vivid colours of gems,” she stated, “and I wished colourful gems for youngsters.”

The model consists of earrings, necklaces and bracelets; further lengths of chain could be bought so the jewellery can proceed to be worn because the baby grows. Every bit could be personalized, with the specified number of gold and gems, and the signature clasp — formed like a lotus, the nationwide flower of Vietnam — could be engraved with a reputation or a monogram.

Les Pierres d’Anna gives completely different designs, with extra to come back. “I wished motifs that talk to youngsters; I wished one thing playful,” Ms. Neuville stated. Two examples are her floral and butterfly designs which “are at all times offered in a colourful means.” The physique of the butterfly is a marquise-cut sapphire, and is centered between golden wings; the flower’s petals are fabricated from gems. A constellation design options gems glowing on golden chains, like stars.

There may be additionally a Cinderella assortment. Its design encompasses a gold define of Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage. “I designed it to attraction to folks and to youngsters,” she stated. “Your mom, your grandmother, all generations know this fairy story. It represents the id of my model, to create jewellery that lasts a lifetime” and that may be handed on.

The Melody assortment can also be private to Ms. Neuville, with earrings and necklaces that includes treble clefs of gold, and a bracelet with 5 strands of gold hyperlinks just like the employees in a musical composition, with gems rather than musical notes. “I liked music, and studied within the music conservatory in Versailles for 10 years once I was youthful.”

Earlier than turning into a jeweler, Ms. Neuville studied enterprise. She has a grasp’s diploma in advertising and marketing and finance from the École Des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord, referred to as EDHEC, in Lille, France. After commencement, she labored on the enterprise aspect of luxurious maisons reminiscent of Parfums Christian Dior, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari.

The expertise was invaluable, she stated: “I labored in advertising and marketing and planning and merchandising and realized concerning the jewellery making course of and client relations. It gave me invaluable perception into the jewellery trade and helped me develop a method.”

Ms. Neuville then studied on the Haute École de la Joaillerie in Paris. “I wished to know the fundamentals of bijou making, to completely perceive the method, so I took a course within the significance of expertise,” she stated. “I additionally wished to be taught the technique of gouache painting as a result of I wished my artisan to know what I wished to create.”

She additionally made contacts, and when her designs for Les Pierres d’Anna had been able to be produced she knew the artisan she wished to create them. “I actually wished somebody used to the standard know-how of Parisian jewellery, to have this high quality,” she stated. “The workshop relies within the coronary heart of bijou trade, close to the Place Vendome.”

In an e-mail, the artisan, Didier (who declined to provide his final identify for this text) stated, “I really like adapting my jewelry-making experience to those small-sized creations.” He added that he pays “particular consideration to sharpening with a purpose to obtain mushy angles which can be snug for youngsters to put on.”

“I’ve labored for famend jewellery homes, however that is the primary time I’ve been requested to work on such an idea of 18-karat gold and gems for youngsters which, to me, is exclusive in Paris.”

Les Pierres d’Anna is offered online, however Ms. Neuville hopes to begin working with shops internationally. The costliest merchandise is the Melody bracelet at 1,800 euros, about $2,000. The least costly, which may attraction to all genders, is likely one of the butterfly or blossom motifs in gold, strung on a coloured cotton wire, beginning at €260. Les Pierres d’Anna additionally consists of mom and daughter bracelets, sized for ladies and youngsters. Ms. Neuville stated she was considering of making a line for boys. She gained’t must look far to discover a identify for the road: Augustin, her 7-year-old son.