There are little girls all over the world that play with dolls and play kitchen sets, but Valerie was always different. She grew up playing with brilliant diamonds that her father, a leading name in diamond trading trade, used to get home from work. He’d asked her to pick her favourites and inculcated a love and a passion for diamonds so strong that it made Valerie’s career as bright and brilliant as her ‘toys’.
Valerie says that she always respected diamonds but was never afraid to play with them and this fearlessness is what guided her into breaking the traditional moulds of jewellery making. Talking about her foray in the industry, she said, “I am born and raised in France. Since I was a little girl, my father used to bring back home some incredible diamonds and allowed me to play with them. I always say that he is a ‘wise young man’, with the energy of a teenager, and a soul of an old man. He explained and transmitted his passion to me, very naturally through the years.I started to work with diamonds when I was quite young. At the beginning, I created my jewellery pieces just for myself. Some of my friends liked my first few creations a lot and insisted that I create more jewellery. I started to design pieces for them as well. This is how everything began.”
We wanted to know why her brand name is Messika Joaillarie instead of Valerie Messika, like most high-end designers have it. To this she says, “The brand is about the family story and not just me and hence the name. My family is really important for me, both in my private and business life. I work closely with my husband, Jean-Baptiste, he is the General Manager and deals with sales, finance, and the everyday issues. In the meantime, I work on new designs along with my cousin and try to think ahead for the brand. My dad is also extremely important. We work closely, hand in hand, to find the perfect diamonds.”
When quizzed about her inspirations, she answers, “I get my inspiration from a lot of things, all the time. It is like am doing gymnastic with my eyes,” she says with a laugh. She further adds, “I am always looking for inspiration in my travels, through architecture, interior design (which I am crazy about), by walking on the streets and looking at people, their attitude and style. ‘Less is More’ is my credo and I imagine my collections around four core values: Lightness, Liberty, Purity, and Sensuality. I have been always lucky to work with diamonds with a free and audacious mind set. From the unconditional diamond purity, to the clean designs that enhances it, Messika is always in search for the essential.”
While speaking about the most difficult aspect of jewellery creation process, she opines, “The most difficult aspect of my jewellery creation process is to transcribe my ideas into a drawing. I always have a lot of ideas, but sometimes it’s quite difficult to get the result I have imagined. But at the end, and thankfully, we always manage to make it possible.” One such example is the new Madison Emerald cut cuff. “It took me one year to find the 120 diamonds to create this exceptional piece. The 116.7 carats of diamonds have been arranged in gradation to give lightness to the piece. The diamonds seem to be in suspension in the air,” she says excitedly.
Talking about difficulties in the earlier days, she says that it was much difficult earlier as people were apprehensive about experimenting with diamond jewellery. Most related diamond jewellery with engagement rings or special occasions. But, Valerie did not give up and churned out collection after collection that was ‘everyday’ fine jewellery. The trend slowly and steadily picked up, making Valerie Messika a household name in terms of minimalistic fine jewellery. She later started developing heavy jewellery once she launched her store.
When asked about unique jewellery making techniques, she explains, “I invented a new technology called ‘Skinny’, which is a concept made of nano resorts that makes the jewellery move like an elastic, completely flexible, that can fit every neck or wrist. My first creation with this concept is the river diamonds bracelet, a classic that I wanted to renew and update with a modern look. The Skinny bracelet never leaves my wrist; I can do everything with it like working, partying, and playing with my daughters. It took me two years to develop such a design.”
The year 2015 is very special for Messika Joaillerie as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. “This year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary and are focusing on our high jewellery knowhow, through the creations of exquisite high-end jewelry pieces. This is very exciting. To celebrate our 10th anniversary, I have created 10 sets of high-end jewellery. Also, diamonds’ shapes and colours push me to create. I never start from a pattern. Designs and techniques are chosen only to set off the unique character of the diamond,” she shares.
There is one more special milestone in the year 2015. “I will open my new high-end jewellery Parisian atelier just moments from the flagship store on Rue Saint Honoré. This allows my creative director, my team and I, to work under one roof, with the brand’s master craftspeople working side by side with the designers, and placing their savoir-faire at my fingertips. In a fitting celebration of this very special anniversary, I will present the ten unique high-end jewellery sets, each utilising the brand’s unrivalled diamond-setting, savoir-faire and showcasing my talent of designing jewellery that lets diamonds speak for themselves,” she expresses with a big smile.
One another important achievement for the brand is finding a loyal patron in Pop Queen, B (Beyonce). We urged Valerie to share that story with us and she takes us down the memory lane, “Last November, Beyoncé was in Paris with her family and she fell in love with Messika Amazone collection. She also Instagramed her Amazone double ring in front of the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum. In February, she also asked for my iconic high-end jewellery Miss Hepburn Tie for the her performance at the Grammy Awards - this was a great surprise and huge joy.”
When asked about her muse and to describe the kind of woman that wears Messika jewellery, she articulates, “Messika jewellery is made for different types of women: our clientele can be a romantic, a little rock, or even slightly edgy… My designs are made to suit a large number of women because they are timeless. I am very inspired by women like Kate Moss, Daria Werbowy but my true icons are Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly.”
When asked to give us the names of her favourite jewellery brand and material palate, she answers in a second, “The diamond is my DNA and I probably will never work with another stone. This passion is my heritage. Coming to my favourite jewellery brand, it is undoubtedly, Cartier. I extremely admire its knowhow, its history and its patrimony. It’s one of the most famous French jewellery brands.”
Valerie is a mother, daughter, wife, sister, hugely successful jewellery designer, businesswoman, traveller, etc. How does she do it all? We were curious to know about her typical day at work. “I get up quite early, to take care of my children, Noah (one-year old) and Romane (thee-years old) and prepare the first baby bottle of the day. Then, I am off to work with my husband on his scooter as we work together. When we reach the office, we split and I don’t see him until the evening! Each day is very singular: I work on so many things at the same time. Sometimes I’ll be working on production, and then I’ll be focusing on our next advertisement campaign. For instance: we had the chance to shoot our latest campaign with photographer Mario Sorrenti and model Malgosia Bela,” she happily shares.
As a message to the readers and consumers, she states while signing off, “My pieces are not created to stay in a safe. If I can give an advice to all women in the world, it’s to wear their jewels in everyday life. I create elegant diamond pieces to be worn on an everyday basis. A modern mix between timeless and contemporary pieces, but always with a little twist to it. I like my creations to be very comfortable, a woman should be able to live her life without being annoyed by excessively heavy jewellery.”
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