Fascination jewellery design?
ANPA has created this unbelievable niche jewellery – handcrafted, individual designs, unique or limited editions with gems that we source and hand select on our travels. What would be more thrilling than to indulge & spoil our beautiful customers with something as special as that?

Where do the design ideas come from?
Women! I love to be on the floor in the boutiques, meeting clients, observing their style, personality and beauty. They inspire me to create “adornment” for them that will underline, enhance their personality and simply make them shine.

What happens next?
I really have to sketch the “thought” as quick as possible to hold on to the overall idea. This first drawing will be repeated, varied, recreated up to 10 times until I start to worry about technical details, measurements and gem size. It will depend on the actual design whether the process will continue with the help of my 3-d software or will go to the workshop to create a first sample. Often the first model will be altered, adjusted until everything feels perfect, only then a piece will actually go into production.

What meaning does jewellery hold for you?
Many people consider jewellery a status symbol that underlines wealth and achievement, for me the wish to adorn oneself is as old as human kind, it comes from our core, has always been there and will always remain; it is the ultimate, visual expression of self. Jewellery is worn on the skin which makes it so intimate and unique. Often it represents a special moment in life or arrived as a gift – jewellery represents our very own history, story and future.

Special moment in the history of ANPA?
Many special memories that come to mind. I loved holding Miss Lira’s CD in hand and the front cover shows her wearing one of our unique, signature pieces. It instilled a sense of accomplishment & confidence that we were on the right track.

Most precious piece ever?
Guess what? My wedding band!!

Most beloved gem?
We work with many different gems and all of them feel precious in their own right. Personally, I always seek the cooling effect of blue or green gems such as aquamarine or turquoise. We recently sourced an amazing collection of sapphires from Madagascar. Beautiful & unusual shades of blue, green yellow & pink. Tomorrow I might be madly in love with our Ethiopian opals….

What do you wear in daily life?
Less is more, I prefer to focus on one special piece and then add on one or two smaller items to compliment the statement piece. Chunky cuffs and dangling earrings are wonderful in summer, in winter I prefer over sized rings with bold gems.

Pieces you prefer?
I am a huge fan of extra long necklaces – I call them “beyond Coco length” ! Opera length styles are magical for tall women with an instant “slimming” effect while creating  real WOW moments. I design many pieces for this collection, either plain silver or in extravagant material mixes. Recently I have been inspired by the dramatic necklaces worn in the “Downton Abbey” series; I could not resist but create a few pieces in that style. Long, dramatic necklaces, yet light and playful with a distinct vintage feel and of course lots of black onyx & rose gold.

How to wear jewellery with style?
Jewellery is not just worn like a shirt or a skirt, it is an intimate relationship, a lover, an affair d’amour. It needs to click within you when you see it, an immediate attraction and  feel sensational when trying it on, finally  creating shivers of excitement when the credit card plays along. There are really no style rules but yes picking up on  eye colour by selecting a complementing gemstone or creating a contrast to a hair shade is basic advise that works. Sets can be great if you feel unsure how to put different pieces together but the ultimate fun and expression of style is to mix and match different pieces.

What trends are emerging?
This is the 21 century, limitations of “one style” for a season or period have disappeared. Anything can be totally “en vogue” as long as it transports a sense of individuality and acute consciousness. Still there are general tendencies, the “renaissance” of coloured gems started about 10 years ago and is definitely a huge influence on present day jewellery design. It feels unreal that for so many years jewellery design was restricted to a few gems such as diamond, sapphire and ruby. An entire universe of gems is available now that offers designers unlimited options and of course creates a huge sense of freedom of choice within clients. Maybe the big trend is that there is no trend?

What are your plans for the future?
Very bad in planing ahead but I feel that the 2 galleries are settled well at this stage and maybe the time is there to focus on themed exhibitions again…