Ana Cavalheiro may get ‘edgy’ in 2011
With a complete collection overhaul in the next month, jewelry designer Ana Cavalheiro couldn’t be busier.
Celebrating her second year in the business, Ana Cavalheiro is launching her first set of collections (she previously sorted by jewelry type) and re-designing her website this winter, hoping to have everything up and running by Valentine’s Day.
A “Rising Star” Award winner at the 2009 JCK Tradeshow, Ana Cavalheiro is known for her handmade, timeworn treasures, which feature brilliant gemstones in every hue. Inspired by her hometown of Lisbon, Portugal, Cavalheiro is guided by the colorful facades and the interiors of Portugal’s famous castles.
“(My jewelry is) always very bright and colorful … like the paint on the buildings,” she said. “(In) the tradition collection ... sometimes the pattern is exactly the same as the columns at the convent.”
She joked that Portugal should pay her for her inspired jewelry. A castle in Sintra, which has different rooms of many colors, inspired her castle rings, she said. The rings, in silver and gold settings, feature gemstones in green, blue and white in an interesting architectural design.
A former banker in Switzerland and Paris, Cavalheiro took a jewelry class in Paris, not knowing it would change her life.
“I couldn’t get jewelry making out of my mind,” she said. “I quit and went to jewelry school full time. That was the happiest time in my life.”
Now Cavalheiro calls Santa Monica home. Although an e-commerce site is in the works, Cavalheiro is old-fashioned when it comes to attracting new clients. Most of her patrons know her personally, through word of mouth, and visit her studio while she’s working.
Although she travels back to Portugal frequently – her friends and family are there – she has found inspiration in her new coastal home.
“What I really like about Santa Monica and what is very inspiring … is the light,” she said. “Moving here with the sun and the sea … those were things I grew up with.”
Cavalheiro’s pieces are not subtle in her signature bold, over-sized settings. Her jewelry is not for the faint of heart, the designer said.
“It’s for women that are very comfortable with themselves,” she said.
Since the items are bigger, comfort is a big priority for Cavalheiro, who wears her pieces for a week before deciding on a design.
“Sometimes I’ll think it doesn’t fit well, and I’ll change the design,” she said.
Two years later, Cavalheiro still handmakes each piece in her beachside studio. The only help she asks for is setting the occasional pave diamond; she sets all the gemstones herself.
Right now Cavalheiro is working on two new collections, some of which already have pieces on her website – the Pearl Collection and the Edgy Collection.
With such a traditional aesthetic, Cavalheiro knows “Edgy” might seem out of the box, but on the contrary, it’s actually her roots.
“When I was like a teenager … I surfed and did all the things the boys did,” she said. “I loved leather jackets. I was a little bit punk rock.”
Going into banking made her re-think her style.
Cavalheiro was surprised to find out that many of the clients that buy her romantic and classical pieces were equally impressed with the “Edgy.”
“It’s funny because they are very punk rock, and one of my clients that is 65 was like ‘I have to have that,’” she said. “That’s what made me think maybe this isn’t just for the edgy, younger crowd. It’s more for the independent woman that’s not afraid to wear something.”
For more information, visit www.anacavalheiro.com. She meets by appointment at her Santa Monica studio, which can be reached at contact@anacavalheiro.com.
If you’d like to buy her pieces, they are available at maxandchloe.com and accessoryartists.com.
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