Back in Time-Sylva Yepremain - Sylva & Cie

My client is a collector who wants to stand out in oneof- a-kind pieces. She knows what she wants. She also wants wearable luxury. She wants to be able to wear her jewellery everyday Large button earrings that glow with opals surrounded by diamonds, an 18th Century Russian Icon Cross fashioned into a pendant set in rose gold with single cut diamonds or a pair of Lava cameo flower stud earrings encircled with diamonds – when you look at Sylva’s jewellery, you can rest assured that she loves gemstones and treats them with the respect they deserve and that she panders to nobody’s whim except her own. The story of how she began her journey along with her husband Raffi Yepremian is the stuff you read in novels or watch in movies. Two Lebanese jewellers, who were best friends, migrated to Los Angeles from Beirut to realise the American Dream. Decades of thick friendship came to a halt when their son and daughter exchanged glances in an elevator at the building where both their parents had their establishments. Not only did their parents eventually come around but Sylva & Raffi’s union also led them to continue their fathers’ legacy, of creating jewellery that celebrated Lebanon’s prodigious jewellery craftsmanship. “My passion for jewellery is most definitely inherited. I come from a long line of artisans and artists and I’ve been thought to recognize admire and respect excellent craftsmanship,” says Sylva.

When you look at all of Sylva’s pieces, you find yourself in a conundrum – whether she goes in search of these exceptional reclaimed stones one after the other or they find her instead, because what she fashions out of them is soulful, almost like it’s is the only way they are meant to be. She is minimalist in her approach, yet her pieces are noticeable from any corner. Her designs are clean and simple and there is no hodgepodge of gemstones – she makes the gemstones shine with a smattering of diamonds at the most. Most of her pieces are Gothic in appeal – dark, mysterious and rustic; the beauty in these pieces doesn’t come from the fact that they are sparkly, like with most jewels, but from the fact that they have been sourced for their organic appearance.

I’ve learned all I know from my father who is a 70+ year bench master. Having lived in both Lebanon and Paris has definitely shaped my esthetics and I’m always striving to create a new language within my Middle Eastern and European influencesIt feels wrong to say that Sylva hasn’t had any formal training. If years of watching her father who has been an expert bench master for decades is not training, then what is? “I’ve learned all I know from my father who is a 70+ year bench master. Having lived in both Lebanon and Paris has definitely shaped my esthetics and I’m always striving to create a new language within my Middle Eastern and European influences.”

She works with medallions, cameos, diamond roughs, conch shells, mother of pearls, dinosaur bone and what not. Sylva finds beauty in the strangest of materials, what most jewellers would rubbish as lacking in aesthetics. So her clientele that constitutes the likes of Oprah & Reese Witherspoon, like to wear jewellery that isn’t flamboyant and showy yet they root for pieces that are innately precious and one-of-a-kind. “My client is a collector that wants to stand out in one-of-a-kind pieces. She knows what she wants. She also wants wearable luxury. She wants to be able to wear her jewellery every day.”

These pieces which are diligently handcrafted by Sylva’s craftsmen take you back in time, to another world, which most people vicariously live through books and movies. But she is one of the few jewellers who transport you to a bygone era with her creations. “Lately I’ve been really interested in the 40’s and 50’s, jewellery drastically changed with those two decades from feminine and ornate to more architectural shapes. My latest collection encompasses some of these qualities.”

The market has changed these last few years. Consumers are less interested in having luxury for the masses and are more seeking to make an emotional connection with their next purchase of jewelleryThough she comes from a family of jewellers, Sylva wasn’t handed everything in a platter. Her journey has been one of self introspection, of what the world wants and what she wants. When she decided to take the plunge to design her jewellery, she decided that she wants to do it her way and either people like it or they don’t. What has worked for her is also a set of niche clients, who find her imagination and creative process interesting. “I think the market has changed these last few years. Consumers are less interested in having luxury for the masses and are more seeking to make an emotional connection with their next purchase of jewellery.”

Inspiration for someone like Sylva could come from anywhere. However, she loves the Alahambra palace. “A few places have influenced me as much as my visit to Alhambra, Spain. The mix of the Moorish architecture and designs mixed with European influences speaks to me!”