Cornaline and Yellow Gold Necklace (65 cm / 25.5" long)

Manuel Rosas, the founder of fine jewelry company Rosior, develops the Portuguese company’s complex and intricate designs, which are brought to life by a small team of Lisbon-based jewelers. 

While only a few decades old, Rosior has a jewelry history dating back along Rosas’s family lineage to the 1840s. Both sides of his family were involved with jewelry, but his father’s side established Rosas de Portugal, Lda, in 1890. Manuel Rosas began as a partner in the company before starting his own brand in 1978 to expand on his innovative ideas.

Rosior’s crown jewel is the bespoke Gem Dreams evening bag. Hand-crafted from 3.7 ounces of 19.20-karat gold and 22.61 ounces of sterling silver, the piece took over 1,100 hours of labor, including 900 hours to set the over 4,730 gemstones that cover the bag. Finished in 2009, after taking two years to complete, the bag brought extravagant colors and luxury style to the Portuguese jewelry scene.

In 1986, Rosas won the Ideias Inovadoras Prize from the Portuguese Institute. In the same year, Rosior presented its work for the first time in Asia at an exhibition in Tokyo, later followed by one in Dubai. Four years later, the Spanish minister for industry awarded Rosas the European Community Design Prize for one of his stunning designs. The Rosior team received a visit from the First Lady of Portugal in 1997 and held exhibitions at the Portuguese Embassy in Paris in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Rosior’s newest boutique is at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon. There, Rosior’s specialties are on full display, like dazzling gem-encrusted butterflies and flowers, as well as bold cocktail rings and incredible cuff bracelets. Manuel Rosas’s son, José Correia Rosas, joined the company in 2006 and is continuing the family tradition of exceptional jewelry-making in the 21st century.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Rosior rings, earrings, bracelets and more.