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.