One of my favorite parts of what I do at my fashion platform Maison Orient happens before a piece of jewelry ever arrives at the store.
It happens when I step inside a designer's showroom, or I should rather say, their world.
There is something very intimate about entering the space where someone creates. You see the objects they surround themselves with, the books and images they return to, the materials scattered across a table, a stone waiting to become something, an unfinished piece, an idea for the next collection. You begin to understand not only what they make, but how they see and envision.
It feels, in a way, like getting a glimpse inside someone's brain.
This is what I love most about discovering independent jewelry designers. Each one has built a universe of their own.
When you meet the designers and hear them speak about their work, you also begin to see something that isn't always obvious when looking at a single piece online: the continuity of their ideas.
A new collection rarely begins from zero. It is a continuation of a conversation. A shape reappears differently. A material takes on another meaning. An idea that was only hinted at in one collection becomes the protagonist of the next. Each collection adds another layer to the universe they are building.
I find that incredibly compelling and interesting.
In a world where we are over exposed to products and dupes and copy & paste styles, it is very refreshing to discover a collection of pieces that were created in a tiny studio and then turned into real pieces by artisanal hands.
Perhaps even more so because so much of this jewelry is still made by hand. In a world where we are surrounded by things that can be reproduced endlessly and instantly, there is something increasingly precious about an object that has passed through someone's hands.
And handmade does not mean one particular aesthetic. That is part of its beauty. Each designer approaches jewelry with a completely different vision, set of references and idea of beauty.
Sometimes the piece that stays with me isn't necessarily the easiest one. It might be the strangest one on the table. The piece that needs a second look. The one that tells me something about the designer before I even know the story behind it.
That sense of discovery is one of the reasons Maison Orient exists.
I want it to be a meeting place for these different universes. Not a collection of things that all look alike, but quite the opposite: designers with strong identities, brought together because each of them has something different to say.
So I thought I would take you behind some of the pieces and introduce you to some of the independent jewelry worlds I have had the pleasure of discovering. Not simply through what they make, but through the worlds they have created around it.
Peracas: stories worn on the skin
What drew me to Peracas first was the stories. Every design begins somewhere: a figure lifted from a Botticelli canvas, the jewellery of an ancient goddess, a kind of beauty that was already old centuries before any of us arrived.
And then there are the hands that make them. Every Peracas piece is crafted in collaboration with some of the most gifted artisans in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest craft centres in the world. As someone who grew up in this city, I find something deeply moving in seeing that heritage carried into pieces you can wear today.
Timeless. Handmade. And truly one of a kind.
ANIW: a sculptor's inheritance, in Athens
Here in Athens, I met Aniw Vlachaki, the founder and designer behind ANIW Jewellery. Craft runs through her family in many forms, but the influence she speaks of most is her grandfather, a gifted sculptor who worked in marble and wood. His pieces were all fluid lines and soft, flowing shapes, and she grew up surrounded by them.
You can feel that inheritance in everything she makes. Aniw takes that same sculptural sensibility and translates it into precious metals and gemstones, creating pieces that feel raw, organic and quietly powerful. They are small treasures, each one carrying a little of the world she grew up in.
Ninon: born in Paris, made in Istanbul
Some brands feel like they were made for me, and Ninon is one of them. It was born in Paris and now lives in Istanbul, the two cities that shaped so much of my own life in fashion.
Ninon is the creative partnership of fashion director Mert Aslan and vintage costume jewellery expert Ahmet Güneş, and together they have set out to create costume jewellery at its very finest. Their muse is Ninon de l'Enclos, a legendary figure of 17th century Paris, celebrated for her wit and beauty and adored by the writers and artists of her time.
Her spirit runs through every design, alongside the glamour of the '70s and '80s. Each piece is a little tribute to an iconic character, an unforgettable muse or a place that leaves its mark on you. And the idea behind it all is one I love: whoever wears Ninon becomes a Ninonette, dazzling wherever she goes.
Copine: slow by design
Slow by design. That is how Lilia Khazhieva describes Copine, and it is exactly what drew me to her work.
Lilia founded Copine in 2018 as a quiet departure from the pace of our industry. In a world that constantly pushes us to produce more, she chose her own rhythm: small, carefully considered drops of jewellery, released whenever they are ready rather than to the beat of seasons and deadlines. As someone who has built Maison Orient on my own terms, I understand how much courage that takes.
In 2022, Lilia moved to Amsterdam and began a new chapter, both personally and creatively. Since 2024, Copine has been evolving into something new for a global audience, with fresh designs and a renewed approach to production that keeps craft and care at its heart.
Copine is jewellery for women who know that the most meaningful things cannot be rushed. I could not agree more.
A private jewellery tour
I wanted this article to feel like a little private jewellery tour, a chance to introduce you to some of the creative minds I have been lucky enough to meet and whose work I have the joy of curating.
What connects them is not a single style or a single place. It is the care. From the artisans of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar to a sculptor's granddaughter here in Athens, from a Parisian muse reimagined in Istanbul to a designer in Amsterdam who refuses to rush, each of them makes jewellery that carries a story, a memory or a way of seeing the world.
This is what I love most about my work. Behind every piece there is a person, and behind every person there is a journey worth telling. I hope you enjoyed meeting them as much as I did, and that the next time you choose a piece of jewellery, you think a little about the hands and the heart behind it.
With love,
Ayse
Meet all 39 designers we work with on our designers page, or browse the full jewellery collection.