No two stones are alike, so every stone is one of a kind. That is why each necklace looks a little different from the next, and that is exactly what makes it yours. This is not a sales line. It simply follows from how a necklace is made here. Here is the path from raw stone to finished piece, in four steps.
It does not start with the necklace. It starts with the stone. The 37 stones of the Signature collection come from nine countries, most of them from Brazil, along with Pakistan, Madagascar, India, Mozambique, Zambia, the Congo, Sri Lanka and China. Every product page states where a stone comes from and whether it has been treated.
What sets our necklaces apart from mass-produced jewelry is the order of things. We do not design a setting first and then fill it with a matching stone. The stone comes first, and the setting follows its shape. With a raw stone, that is meant quite literally.
The collection in numbers
Each of the 37 necklaces comes in 925 sterling silver or 14K gold-filled, on a 45 cm (17.7 in) or 40 cm (15.7 in) chain, or as a pendant on its own. The number of necklaces changes whenever a stone sells out and a new one comes in.
“I don’t look for a stone to fit a setting. I look for a setting to fit the stone.”
I. Every stone is one of a kind: that is why it comes first.
Eighteen of the 37 stones are from Brazil, the land of quartz: amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, smoky quartz, rock crystal and black tourmaline all come from there. Pakistan supplies the peridot and most of the aquamarines, Madagascar the labradorite, India the carnelian and garnet, Zambia and Brazil the emerald, Mozambique the ruby, the Congo the malachite, China the turquoise and Sri Lanka the moonstone. We choose by stone, not by country: by color, clarity and surface.
Treatments are never hidden. The raw stones keep the shape they grew in, just as they came out of the ground. The moonstone, for example, is completely untreated. The cut teardrops and cylinders are usually treated, as is standard in the trade: emerald is oiled, which fills fine cracks, aquamarine and citrine are heat-treated, turquoise is stabilized and smoky quartz is color-treated. The product page lists this for every stone.
II. The Lumière Factor: four criteria, one hundred points.
Before a stone is set, it gets a rating. There are four criteria worth 25 points each. Transparency: how clearly light passes through the stone. Color depth: whether the color looks flat or vivid. Surface integrity: whether edges and faces are intact. Liveliness: whether the stone sparkles as it moves in daylight or stays quiet.
The total gives the Lumière Factor, from 0 to 100. Up to 60 is Basic, 61 to 75 is Good, 76 to 89 is Very good, and 90 and above is Exceptional. The rating is shown openly on the product page of every necklace, with one sentence on each criterion. A raw stone loses no surface points for its fracture faces as long as they formed naturally and are not chipped.
The rating is not a sales pitch. It is a filter: a stone that does not pass under the lamp does not get set.
How the rating works
Four bars, four criteria. The total falls into one of four levels. A stone with 89 points is “Very good,” one with 90 is “Exceptional,” and the line sits where a criterion leaves hardly anything to be desired.
III. Raw, teardrop, cylinder: three ways to set a stone.
Three shapes, one necklace
10
Raw
Natural shape, wrapped in wire by hand
13
Teardrop
Polished, drilled at the top, hangs freely from the chain
14
Cylinder
Cut, drilled crosswise, sits right on the chain
How the 37 necklaces in the Signature collection are split. Not every stone comes in every shape: the moonstone is only available raw, the turquoise only as a teardrop.
Ten necklaces carry a raw stone. It stays the way it grew, with its edges and faces, and is wrapped in wire by hand at the top. The wire follows the shape, which is why every setting is different. The moonstone, the amethyst, the labradorite, the rose quartz: they all come this way.
Thirteen necklaces carry a teardrop. The stone is polished smooth and drilled at the top, so it hangs freely from the chain and catches the light across its whole surface. Fourteen necklaces carry a cylinder: cut with crisp edges and drilled crosswise, so it sits right on the chain, with no bail and no extra setting.
What the three shapes have in common: the chain is the same, fine and with square links, in 925 sterling silver or 14K gold-filled, 45 cm or 40 cm long. Every stone is also available without a chain, as a pendant for a chain you already have.
IV. The collection in numbers.
Origin of the 37 stones
From raw stone to necklace
1
Selection
Stone by stone under the lamp: color, clarity, surface
2
Rating
Lumière Factor, four criteria, one hundred points
3
Setting
Wire wrapped, teardrop drilled or cylinder threaded on
4
Chain
Silver or gold, 45 cm or 40 cm, clasp attached by hand
Why it matters in the studio
Four things that define every necklace we make.
01
The stone first.
We choose the stone, not the setting. The setting follows its shape, which is why no two are alike.
02
Origin and treatment, disclosed.
Every necklace lists the country its stone comes from and whether it is untreated or has been oiled, heated or stabilized.
03
A rating, not a claim.
The Lumière Factor gives every stone four numbers and a sentence to go with them. You can see why a stone was set.
04
Handmade in Germany.
Every setting and every clasp is attached by hand in the studio. No assembly line, no mass production.
A necklace does not become unique through its price but through a stone that grew this way only once. Everything else, the wire, the chain, the clasp, is craft. The stone is the one thing we cannot make. We can only find it.
We don’t design necklaces. We find stones and give them one.
Carola
All 37 necklaces with origin, treatment and Lumière Factor.
View Signature
