Ella Gafter Golden Pearl Yellow Sapphire Clip-On Earrings

Name: Ella Gafter Golden Pearl Yellow Sapphire Clip-On Earrings
Brand: Ella Gafter
Price: 9900 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

The sapphire and pearl earrings feature two 13.5mm South Sea pearls from the waters of Northwestern Australia. The pearls display beautiful nacre and a lovely golden color. They are untreated. The design is complete with 2 faceted oval cut yellow sapphires of brilliant color (8.85 carats). The earrings are entirely hand made in Italy in our own workshop, according to an original design by Ella Gafter. Maestro Scalabrì crafted them in 18 carat white gold. The item is signed EG. Please note the properly designed setting, assuring that the earring will not tilt forward when worn, as is often the case.

Creator:

Ella Gafter

Metal:

18k Gold,White Gold

Stone:

Pearl,South Sea Pearl,Sapphire,Yellow Sapphire

Stone Cut:

Style:

Place of Origin:

Period:

Date of Manufacture:

Unknown

Condition:

Seller Location:

New York, NY

Reference Number:

Seller: 14241stDibs: LU802320004892

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Ella Gafter

Even before Ella Gafter founded her namesake jewelry collection in 1982, she was a formidable presence in the jewelry industry.

As a Rome-based gem dealer, Gafter sold pearls and precious stones to retailers and jewelers but was often dissatisfied with how they made use of the rare materials she worked so hard to source. Instead of grousing, she decided to design jewels that would do them justice, focusing primarily on pearls — akoya, Tahitian and South Sea. She explains her fascination with the lustrous marine treasures simply: “Every woman looks better with pearls than without.”

Her daughter Talila Gafter, then an undergrad at Harvard, was her ally in getting the project off the ground. Together, they made the rounds to stores with Ella’s first efforts. “We had a little pouch with eight pieces and we sold everything,” Talila tells 1stDibs. After graduation, she “was involved one hundred percent” in building the company, whose pieces are handmade by master jewelers in Naples.

The designer insists that her unwavering focus is the source of her success. “There’s no compromising for me,” she says. She’s been known to replace the pearls in a single piece time after time until she’s certain she’s achieved her ideal result. “A pearl you have to respect,” she explains. “You have to put it where it wants to sit.”

Ella describes the collaboration with her daughter as a “partnership,” with each having her own domain. “I’m all fantasy; Talila is the concrete one,” she says. The company is now based in New York City, with Talila as its president while Ella is firmly at the helm of creative decisions. “I’ve never made a design suggestion to Ella,” says Talila. “Nobody does.”

That forbearance has been earned, says Talila. “I admire that Ella doesn’t take no for an answer, her tenacity, her extraordinary ambition. She believes as long as there is life, there is a lot of beauty to create. She’s a force of nature.”

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