Colourful and unconventional — these are the defining ideas of Silvia Furmanovich’s jewellery collections. Armed with a fearless intuition, the Brazilian designer uses rare materials and solid craftsmanship to create brilliant jewellery.
Furmanovich works with materials such as ebony, porcelain and even bamboo — usually the centre of an exotic narrative in her designs. “Each piece is a fragment of a story that I try to narrate in an unusual, magical way,” she shares. “I have no preconceived design notions. I just love to combine colours and materials in unexpected ways to tell a story.”
Her bold inspiration stems from an unfettered design sense and a passion for travel to exotic and beautiful places. Her preoccupation with craftsmanship was inherited from her father, Salvador Longobardi, who hailed from a long line of goldsmiths in Italy. These are all apparent in her unique collections of vibrant, contrasting colours, harmonised by fine detailing and precise craftsmanship.
Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Furmanovich considers herself fortunate to be in a country “that is a wonderful resource for all kinds of coloured gemstones and the endless possibilities that result from their combination.” One of her most recent collections features blue and white opals that she discovered on a trip to the opal mining state of Pedro II, Piauí, Brazil. Using a mosaic technique, she pieced together tiny fragments of opals to form parts of a design. Among her favourite pieces are the unusual bracelets woven out of porcelain beads and adorned with gold and gemstone highlights. The 1-mm beads, some coated in 22k gold for a shimmery effect, are handwoven using a fine thread, creating the effect of a woven tapestry or fabric. “The colour combinations and design possibilities are endless. It is a very satisfying design process,” Furmanovich shares. Other personal favourites include the Bamboo collection that was inspired by a trip to Thailand, where she serendipitously met a group of artisans who create intricate loops from naturally-dyed bamboo. She says: “I was fascinated by these extremely original creations and chose to give them more value by adding gold and gemstones.”
Another fun and quirky collection which garnered a lot of attention features netsukes — tiny carvings used in traditional clothing in Japan as important symbols of distinction. She says her initial inspiration was from Edmund de Wall’s book, The Hare with Amber Eyes, which narrates the history of netsukes. She purchases these netsukes at auctions or antique stores and works with them as the starting point of her designs. “They reflect the idea of highlighting and valuing a highly collectible object that can be appreciated and worn as jewellery,” says Furmanovich. Other sources of inspiration include ancient Egypt and Native American iconography — colourful gemstones carved to resemble the sacred Egyptian scarab in her designs.
Furmanovich currently designs from her atelier and offices in São Paulo and works with local artisans who translate her designs into what she considers to be “wearable works of art.” Although most of her clients are in Brazil, she is now beginning to have a following in Europe, the United States and, recently, Asia.