At first sight, you’d know that Tamara Comolli is a boho goddess. Bronzed with golden hair, she was born in Germany and raised in Spain, and has had a life of traveling and interesting experiences. She shows me a photo of her in a red flamenco costume by the beach taken when she was five. But it wasn’t a costume. “This is how we really dressed up. It was my Sunday dress,” she says. Her life in Spain has inspired a lot of her designs for her fine jewelry collection, including her iconic Flamenco bracelet made with almandin and mandarin garnet for the Mikado, and candy-colored gems for the Candy collection. The Flamenco bracelet comes in 40 color combinations.
Comolli founded the brand in 1992 in Munich and started by doing everything herself.
“The brand started 20 years ago with the idea to bring color in a woman’s life. I am a passionate lover of gemstones. It’s probably one of the fine jewelry brands in the world that carries the most collection of gemstones, some stones you’ve maybe never seen and are very rare,” she says. Some semi-precious stones are more expensive than diamonds. She works with gemologists and pays visits to mines, as well as suppliers that offer information when new mines have been discovered.
Design-wise, the diversity of the collections reflects Comolli’s love for mixing and matching, and dressing up. “I like to mix colors that you wouldn’t think of mixing, like pink and orange, for instance. It’s very couture. I like blues and greens — blue topaz, green tourmaline or green peridot…it reminds you of the Caribbean. I also love pearls. A lot of people are not familiar with the Polynesian pearls (found in the Grapes collection),” she explains. Because Tamara Comolli’s philosophy is to never delete a design, the collection now is huge. There are designs for classic, casual, clean, hippie, all with the brand’s signature gemstone “drop,” which symbolizes water and Tamara’s free-spirited lifestyle.
Tamara Comolli collections include the colorful Candy collection with tourmaline, topaz and amethyst; Indian Summer famous for combinations of ocean jasper gemstone; Bouton rings; Casual Friday with laid-back designs in white, brown and gray; Casual Taupe and Cashmere with its gray moonstones; feminine Floral Moods; Bohemian Rhapsody which is characterized by folklore looks and orange, green and yellow tones; Bye Bye Bling… Hello Nature, which uses natural materials; Marsala Mood, which features coconut snakewood, Muted Pastel with soft pastel chalcedonies; Potpourri of Gems, which features 30 different color stories to explore; diamond-laden Night Fever; So Fresh So White cacholong gemstones in 18k gold; Pure Gold, which is all about solid gold chain; and Iconic, which includes Tamara Comolli’s signature pieces.
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The entire Tamara Comolli collection is exclusively available at Rustan’s Silver Vault in Makati, Shangri-La and Resorts World Manila.
Charriol goes younger with new bangle colors
Back in the ‘90s, every “It” girl had three things: a massive trapper keeper, those white crocheted socks that only go up to the ankles, and a Charriol bracelet. Neither one of them went well with the other, but together, they made up the formula for Cher Horowitz fame. I don’t think any of us understood back then what a Charriol bracelet was or where it comes from, but kids today know better.
A trip back to my alma mater was highly educational: the “it” girl has evolved into this superhuman with perfect cheekbones, washboard abs, straight A’s and a sport that she has mastered. That, and everything in her wardrobe goes together, not because everything is black, but because she has a style of her own. Something tells me she wouldn’t wear a Charriol bangle — until Charriol launched a collection that would go perfectly with today’s “It” girl’s style.
Described as “fairytale-meets-rock,” the new Forever bangle under the Forever Colors collection comes in 12 shades that echo the urban-folk trends that populate the runways. In color, the Forever bangle kind of looks like climbling rope, except it’s made of thinner-than-usual (2mm) steel cables set in 18 carat gold or black PVD. Embellishments are either gold-plated crisscross designs, or the Charriol insignia. The Charriol bangle has toughened up so that every kind if “It” girl can wear them — not just those who like pink.
Charriol Forever has been a highlight of Charriol’s jewelry collection since 2013, released in shades of steel or bronze. This year, at BaselWorld 2014, it was released in a new color palette. Designed by Alexandre and Coralie Charriol, the colors represent moods and emotions — one shade for every feeling.
“The gold variants give a more refined, hippy-luxe look, and the black versions have an urban feel, so there’s something for the boardroom or the beach,” says Coralie.
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In the Philippines, Charriol is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., a member of SSI Group, Inc., and is located at Bonifacio High Street Central, Gateway Mall, Greenbelt 5, Newport Resorts World, Podium, Power Plant Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, Robinsons Place Manila, Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, SM Mall of Asia, TriNoma, 158 Designers’ Boulevard in Alabang Town Center, Century City Mall and Marquee Mall, Brandsmart in Robinsons Starmills Pampanga, Rustan’s Ayala Cebu, Abreeza Davao, Limketkai Cagayan de Oro and Veranza Mall General Santos City. Visit www.ssilife.com.ph for more information. Meet the Instagram-famous Daniel Wellington
Any brand that has 1.3 million followers on Instagram must be doing something right. Swedish watch brand Daniel Wellington defintely knows how to navigate the modern world and all the visually picky millennials that live in it. For a new name in the industry, having only been founded in 2011, Daniel Wellington has created enough buzz (20 million in social media reach every month) for itself to become a household name for the young and stylish. The brand’s IG feed will make you want to scroll and scroll and then at the very end, subscribe to the lifestyle it promotes, which is, of course, a fashionable one.
The watches are minimalist and preppy, known for the NATO strap that founder Filip Tysander saw on the wrist of a man named Daniel Wellington in 2006. The NATO strap secured a Rolex Submariner. Inspired by the strap, Tysander named a new company after the stranger and designed a line of stylish watches at an accessible price point. He doesn’t even know where Wellington is now, or if he even knows that there is a company named after him.
DW watches come in polished steel or rose gold-colored cases in different sizes for men and women. They have white dials and internal quartz movements, some with NATO straps, others with leather bands.
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Daniel Wellington is now available at My Diamond in Shangri-La Plaza Mall, SM SM Megamall, Gateway Mall, Glorietta, SM Mall of Asia, Festival Supermall, Robinsons Place Manila, Lucky China Town, Ayala Fairview Terraces & SM Lanang Premier in Davao City. They are also available in My Tempo SM City North EDSA, My Tempo Resortsworld Manila, White Halo SM Aura Premier & Washington Jewelry Powerplant Mall.