Statement Jewellery....Italian style

Tweet

Chunky statement jewellery has been big for years and seems set to be in trend for sometime to come. These days its easy to grab an inexpensive chunky necklace from Diva or Collette to go with your everyday outfit but if you want something special for a grand gala, wouldn't you prefer to choose quality craftsmanship that makes you feel a million bucks. I know I would.

Have you trawled the shops looking for that piece that not only compliments but finishes off your dream outfit . Have you experienced the absolute disaster of seeing a girl on the next table wearing the same dress or has she styled her jewellery that much better than you....it sucks I know. I have the answer for you and it comes all the way from Italy to Australia's shores. Elma Venezia is an Italian jewellery house whose designs are timeless, colours are in trend and are all handmade. The benefit of a handmade piece of jewellery over a Asian factory made piece is that it falls under the umbrella of Artisan Jewellery. The quality and attention to detail will be high and the workmanship 100 times better than cheap metal. In fact Elma Venezia uses very little metal in their jewellery which makes it lighter than the Asian replicas.

The jewellery house creates its masterpieces from Murano glass and each bead is handmade and hand strung all in Venice. Should you select a gold or silver piece of jewellery, you will be buying 24 carat gold or silver (956) spun into the molten glass to give you the perfect metallic shine that looks real because it is real.

Available at zavara.com.au, you will find the full Australian range to purchase with delivery times of approximately a week. However, if you have your heart set of something from the International catalogue, we can arrange to have it made to order and sent to you in approximately 6 weeks. The Zavara shop also features some of the International range and states the delivery times accordingly.

Cant find the exact colour to match your dress? We can work with our Italian designers and have your very own piece designed just for you. To arrange a custom made piece of Elma Venezia, please contact Melanie at info@elmavenezia.com.au.

So without further a due, please enjoy the viewing pleasure of some of the Australian range currently available from our online store www.zavara.com.au.

    Dorata Chain Necklace in 24ct Gold Glass - $529AUD

    Athena Necklace in 24ct Gold and Silver Glass - $399AUD

           

   
    Isadora Necklace in Green and Silver Glass - $549AUD

                 

    
    Sofia Loren Necklace in Silver - $699AUD

    Atlantis Earrings and Bracelet - $249AUD / $279AUD

    Water Drop Earings - $139AUD

                 

     Isadora Earings in Green and Silver - $179AUD

               

Coming soon to Australian retailers: Elma Venezia Jewellery

Tweet

They are finally here and I am so proud of my latest project. You may have read a little from my previous posts about Elma Venezia, an Italian jewellery house who makes beautiful original pieces of glass art. I am simply in love with the whole range, especially all the marine summer colours. One of my collective of projects for 2012/2013 is to import these beauties to the Australian market. So look out for them in bespoke galleries, fashion stores and jewellers near you soon. If you have a store or know someone who might be interested in becoming a stockist of Elma Venezia jewellery, contact me via my shop.

Also if you are interested in where to find a stockist near you, we will be launching the Elma Venezia website in February 2013.

For now, my online store has a vast range available and for this weekend only is having a 30% off sale as part of its '12 Deals of Christmas' promotion. To receive a 30% discount off all Elma Venezia jewellery, enter the following coupon code DEAL30%MURANO during check out.

SHOP NOW - SALE ENDS MONDAY 10 DECEMBER

If you love the pictures below like I do, tell me your favourite, I would love to hear from you.

Elma Venezia behind the scenes

Tweet

Tuesday was a big day for the Zavara team as we held our Spring/Summer photo shoot for the jewellery house Elma Venezia. You may have read a little about the brand from my earlier post Venice Part One - Murano Jewellery however if you haven't read the post yet, I can summarise the jewellery as exquisite handmade statement jewellery that is not like anything Australia has seen... until now!

Being an event manager certainly helped me prepare for this shoot, from writing the call sheet through to the problem solving on the day, which is always inevitable. Essential to the day was of course our models Rachel and Oceana from Mannequin Models and our very talented photographer Nadean from Photography by Nadean. I also enlisted some first year students Kayla and Emily from Whitehouse Institute of Design to help with the styling.

Before the shoot
As you can imagine, even with the shoot scheduled to start at 3pm, we were up and out of the house before 9am to ensure everything was ready in time. First stop after loading the car with boxes of shoes, clothes and diet cokes was the RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority). Yes, that sounds like a strange choice but we noticed our number plates stolen from our car and therefore couldn't drive it.... I'm thinking lucky we are up and out the door early. Not so lucky was that we couldn't sort it out in time and ended up hiring a car for the day. Did I mention earlier that problems on the day were inevitable?

After that it was collecting the catering, picking up more clothes for the shoot and be on location my midday.... Ahem make that 1pm. 

Next the stylists arrive and models with their hair beautifully done by Amy from Amy Chan Hair & Make up Artistry. We opted to have Oceana with her hair out and Rachel with an elegant updo, which turned out to be a great move since Rachel wore most of the evening wear and with her hair up, the earrings looked stunning.

With Sydney weather always a lottery, I didn't want to assume we had Mother Nature in the bag... but this picture below one of the stylist took, shows just how amazing a Sydney Spring day can be.

Next it was matching the jewellery with the outfits and putting them together with the models... pretty much like dress ups for grown ups. Loving the number system the stylist have set up to match the jewellery with the outfits.  Have to say 3 hours into the shoot, it was a lifesaver. An hour or so later when the heat of the day had gone its was action time.

Action Time
By far the most exciting part of the day, when everything comes together better than you imagine. Here are a few pics we took on our phone from behind the scenes. In a few weeks when the professional photos are processed, I will add another post of our new catalogue for all you all to drool over. 

Loving these printed pants in marine colours 

 All hands on deck for this one with Kayla fighting with the tree

Last few shots before the sun went down. 

 Cheeky Alberto trying to get the models to laugh

Breathtaking

All in all, it was an amazing day that ending at sunset with a well earned glass on wine in hand. If you are in love with this jewellery as much as I am visit my shop to view the full range. 

Venice: Part One - Murano Jewellery

Tweet

Recently I visited Italy and spent much of my time in the beautiful city of Venice. On the surface the city is full of international tourists and shop after shop of cartoon-like glass figurines but if you look deeper and take the time to understand its history, you might be surprised. 

I must be honest, I have visited the city many times and each time was much the same....San Marco Square, Murano glass factories, gondola rides etc but this time I travelled with a local and a saw a whole new world (sorry for the cliche).

Over the next few weeks I am going to share some of my favourite experiences, starting with the Island of Murano. First stop is my most favourite Murano glass jewellery brand Elma Venezia, which captures modern elegance using simple classic tradition.

Elma Venezia
By far the most elegant, timeless and wearable glass jewellery I have ever seen. I couldn't resist taking a few pieces home with me and every time I wear them, I feel like I am wearing rare exotic jewels fit for royalty.

Elma Venezia was born from the devotion of saving a thousand year old tradition of craftmanship and skills passed down through generations of families. Each individual glass bead has been hand selected based on its rare materials, intesity of colour and individual characteristic which can only be achieved by hand.

Each piece has limited availability and changes seasonably depending on the European fashion trends. Check out some of the Spring/Summer collection with its bold vibrant colours or stick to the simple elegance of blacks and metallics which are also big for 2012.

Now Available in Australia
Lucky for us, Elma Venezia is reaching out to us Aussies and after many glasses of Prosecco, I can now announce that the jewellery house will be selling direct to the Australian market via our design store Zavara and selected boutique art galleries and jewellers throughout the East Coast. 

In addition, the jewellery house has opened a custom division, for the customer who is looking for the piece that's one of kind.

Next week... More tips and tricks when travelling in Venice, followed buy a feature on Murano Glass House, Nason Moretti.