Asprey, the legendary London-based jeweler, has collaborated with Silvia Furmanovich to create an exclusive collection featuring rare colored jadeite.
At nearly 250 years old, Asprey has a storied history and strong connections with the British royal family. The brand’s first royal warrant was awarded by Queen Victoria in 1986 and Asprey has been granted a royal warrant by every British monarch since then. While São Paulo-based Furmanovich’s company is just over 25 years old, she has attracted a global following of passionate collectors who appreciate her artful, one-of-a-kind jewelry crafted by specialized craftspeople all over the world.
With such a remarkable history, it’s no wonder that Asprey has been able to access some of the world’s finest gemstones, including jadeite in hues that even Furmanovich, a long-standing collaborator with Asprey, had not seen before. The stones’ rare colors inspired the new pieces’ designs.
“The starting point was actually the jade itself,” she said. “Asprey showed me an extraordinary collection of jadeite in colors so rare that some were entirely new to me—greens, lavenders, pinks, oranges and whites. Each stone seemed to possess its own personality, and I wanted every jewel to offer a unique setting for that individual character.”
Amazonian Wood
Furmanovich is world-renowned for combining precious gems and natural materials, including wood, in her jewelry. “I have always believed that gemstones become even more meaningful when they exist in conversation with organic materials,” she said. “Jade possesses an extraordinary quietness, it has a softness, a depth and an almost spiritual presence. I wanted to surround it with materials that shared that same sense of life and history.”
Celebrating Color
The new collection features hand-carved Japanese bamboo, reclaimed wood from the Amazon and horse mane dyed and woven in Chile. Examples include a pair of earrings made of orange jadeite with purple woven horse mane and diamonds (pictured here), a leaf-shaped carved wood cuff bracelet with green jadeite and wild orchid wood marquetry earrings featuring pink jadeite (main photo). Each piece is completely handcrafted and requires the work of several artisans who specialize in these rare techniques.
Furmanovich’s love of decorative crafts from around the world is evidenced in all of her jewelry. She also has a home collection that includes marquetry picture frames, trays, jewelry boxes and vases. “I often say that craftsmanship is a form of storytelling. Every surface reveals the hand of the artisan who created it, and those human traces are what transform an object into something with soul.”