The IVY New York x Gemfields Collection
Vlad Yavorskyy, a designer and longtime gem enthusiast, dreamed of IVY as a lifestyle brand that combines his interests in photography, travel, art, jewellery, and literature with his longstanding devotion to colourful jewels. The jewellery collection is an exuberant manifestation of the fusion of these disparate passions into a unified form of creative expression.
At the heart of this new collaboration is colour. “I’ve always regarded colour as a glimpse into the soul of a gem,” explains Vlad, recalling a dramatic trek up the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia over 35 years ago and being pulled along by an old pack horse to access a cave full of “the reddest of rubies”. Gemstones – formed deep beneath the earth many millions of years ago – are, for him, intrinsically linked to Mother Earth, “like a pulsating heart shaped over the years”.
Gemfields, the world's biggest ethical miner and marketer of coloured gemstones, shares Vlad's dedication to coloured gems as the main owner and operator of the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique and the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia. Kagem is thought to be the largest producing emerald mine, while Montepuez is one of the most significant newly found ruby resources in the world.
“The near-miraculous set of circumstances required for gemstone formation leads to our almost innate fascination with them,” says Emily Dungey, Gemfields’ marketing and communications director. “IVY New York’s collection cleverly draws our attention to the inimitable natural beauty of each gemstone, enabling its character to stand out.”
IVY New York has at its core the principle of responsible sourcing, which aligns with Gemfields’ aim to mine responsibly. This includes, but is not limited to, efforts to protect Africa's great wildlife and biodiversity, as well as projects to improve health, education, and livelihoods in the local communities near the mines, and industry-leading practices to modernize the sector.
Featuring responsibly mined Mozambican rubies and Zambian emeralds, the new IVY x Gemfields collection features earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces in a variety of alluring designs, such as statement rings with emeralds and rubies, chandelier earrings with rubies and diamonds, rings with floral motifs, and chokers with rubies. An analogy to a "work of art" is how Vlad characterises the process of cutting a gemstone. The collection's handmade pieces were each developed in-house to highlight a different coloured gemstone.
“Like a painting needs a frame, a gemstone needs an exquisite setting in which to shine,” says Vlad, who drew design inspiration for the collection from everything from the grand balls of the 19th century to the sparkle in the eyes of the women who might wear the pieces. But his main inspiration, as always, was the gemstones themselves: “their kaleidoscope of colours… the bewitching emerald, with its vibrant green, captivating and penetrating the souls of both women and men… and the fiery gift of a red ruby”.
He sums up the mesmeric effect that rubies and emeralds can have on those in their thrall: “Sometimes, just one glance at that unparalleled red or deep green, and you’d willingly part with all your wealth to possess a piece of it.”
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