新一輪高級珠寶商將非洲奢侈品帶到世界各地

新一輪高級珠寶商將非洲奢侈品帶到世界各地

Africa is often seen as the home of precious gemstones and metals, with the world's leading jewelry houses sourcing a steady stream of diamonds, gold and other minerals from the continent.

非洲通常被視為珍貴寶石和金屬的產地，世界領先的珠寶公司從非洲大陸源源不斷地采購鉆石、黃金和其他礦產。

But Africa isn't merely a source for raw materials: A new wave of homegrown jewelry houses is offering distinctly African luxury to customers near and far.

但非洲不僅僅是原材料的來源:本土珠寶公司掀起一股向遠近客戶提供具有鮮明非洲特色的奢侈品的新浪潮。

Sierra Leone-born Briton Satta Matturi, creative director of her namesake fine jewelry house, says that African jewelry designers often have to contend with preconceived notions of what African design is.

塞拉利昂出生的英國人薩塔·馬圖里是她同名的精品珠寶公司的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)，她說，非洲珠寶設計師常常不得不與非洲設計的先入為主的觀念抗衡。

But there is a rich history of distinct and intricate jewelry craft across the continent. "Each region has its own style. Ghana, with its gold heritage; Kenya's striking Masai neckpieces; South Africa's Ndebele beading; Malian Tuareg adornment, Nigerian coral beads and ancient Egyptian influences," she said in an email sent from Botswana, where she takes regular sourcing trips.

但整個非洲大陸都有豐富的獨特而復雜的珠寶工藝歷史。”每個地區(qū)都有自己的風格。她在從博茨瓦納發(fā)來的電子郵件中說：“加納擁有黃金遺產;肯尼亞引人注目的馬賽人的項鏈;南非的恩德貝勒串珠;馬里圖阿雷格裝飾、尼日利亞珊瑚珠和古埃及的影響。” 她經常去博茨瓦納采購。

The house, founded in 2015, already counts Rihanna as a client.

這家公司成立于2015年，蕾哈娜已經是它的客戶。

Some of her designs reimagine historical beliefs and traditional craft for present times to create modern desirable pieces. For Matturi, who previously worked as a rough diamond expert for De Beers, this approach anchors her collections and her company.

她的一些設計重新想象了歷史信念和傳統(tǒng)工藝，為當今時代創(chuàng)造現(xiàn)代的理想作品。馬圖里之前是戴比爾斯的一名原鉆專家，對她來說，這種方法為她的收藏品和公司提供了基礎。

"My vision from the very beginning has always been to create designs that are wearable art forms," she said. "For example, our collection "Artful Indulgence" focuses on creating bejeweled African masks and masquerades using 18-karat gold, diamonds and other precious stones, including rubellite and black onyx."

她說：“從一開始，我就一直致力于創(chuàng)造可穿戴藝術形式的設計。”例如，我們的“Artful Indulgence”系列主要使用18克拉黃金、鉆石和其他寶石(包括紅寶石和黑瑪瑙)制作鑲有寶石的非洲面具和化裝舞會。

Rosenkrantz Africa makes similarly stunning pieces. Founded by Iver Rosenkrantz, the brand was behind the world's largest tanzanite and diamond necklace, containing a total of 600 carats of tanzanite and 100 carats of diamonds -- a feat that brought with it a flurry of new clients.

非洲羅森克蘭茨制造了同樣驚人的作品。該品牌由艾弗·羅森克蘭茨創(chuàng)立，擁有世界上最大的坦桑石和鉆石項鏈，總共含有600克拉的坦桑石和100克拉的鉆石，這一壯舉帶來了一大批新客戶。

But along with developing a unique design sensibility, which fuses the aesthetics of his native Denmark with the Tanzanian and Iranian roots of his wife, Jhaleh Aziz, the brand's creative director, Rosenkrantz has been developing supply chains as well.

但羅森克蘭茨除了開發(fā)出一種獨特的設計感——將他的祖國丹麥的美學與他的妻子、該品牌的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)賈勒·阿齊茲的坦桑尼亞和伊朗血統(tǒng)融合在一起——之外，他還一直在開發(fā)應鏈。

"My experience and network in Africa amongst rural communities and artisanal miners has made it possible for us to work directly with people at the source. This means we are able to influence the way the gemstones are being extracted and support the miners," he said via text.

“我在非洲農村社區(qū)的經驗和與手工礦工之間(關系)網絡，使我們能夠直接與源頭的人合作。這意味著我們能夠影響開采寶石的方式，并為礦工提供支持。”

Although based in Tanzania, Rosenkrantz recently co-founded Zimbaqua, Africa's first woman-only run mine for aquamarine and tourmaline based in Zimbabwe. Rosenkrantz believes that investing in, and upskilling local women will serve these communities in the long run. In addition to sourcing the gemstones, the miners have been trained in cutting and polishing, which allows them to increase the value of the gemstones themselves.

雖然總部設在坦桑尼亞，但羅森克蘭茨最近與合伙人共同創(chuàng)立了Zimbaqua公司，這是非洲第一個僅由女性經營得海藍寶石和電氣石礦的公司，總部設在津巴布韋。羅森克蘭茨認為，從長遠來看，對當?shù)貗D女投資并提高其技能，將為這些社區(qū)提供服務。除了開采寶石，礦工們還接受了切割和拋光方面的培訓，這使他們能夠提高寶石本身的價值。