

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.
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