Artist and jewelry designer Silvia Furmanovich is fresh off a trip to Los Andes, Chile. There, she worked with a group of fourth-generation expert weavers who create vibrant, intricate designs using horse mane and agave plants. She first encountered their work at a Colombian trade show and knew immediately that these talented craftswomen would make great partners for her brand, which is known for using ancestral craft techniques to create opulent, handmade pieces of wearable art.
Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to a line of Italian goldsmiths who once provided pieces to the Vatican, Furmanovich knows firsthand what it feels like to carry on hard-earned family skills to the next generation. She opened her jewelry business in 1998 and regularly traverses the globe looking for new materials and techniques. At each place she visits, she fills scrapbooks with patterns, fabrics, drawings and various ephemera that will inspire the pieces in her namesake collection.
Photography provided by Silvia Furmanovich
At the time of this writing, the Horse Mane Collection has passed from the talented hands of these Chilean artisans to Furmanovich. After she adds her signature 18-karat gold and precious stones, the jewelry will be transported to The Loupe, where it is one of the marquee brands sold at the high-end, Minneapolis-based jeweler. Owner Kiki McMillan carries Furmanovich’s work partly because of how meaningful she finds the process and provenance. Of course, her work is stunning, she says, but “Silvia’s pieces are not just jewelry; they are narratives of culture, history and artistry.”
The desire to preserve ancient cultural techniques has always been at the forefront of Furmanovich’s designs. Forgoing machine-made pieces, which would speed the process but take the soul out, the designer prioritizes building relationships with artisans — like the aforementioned Chilean weavers — whose skills have been passed down for generations. This ethos has informed collections she created from Chile to Uzbekistan, Egypt to Japan. Next up for the globetrotting designer? Kashmir, India, where she will learn about the area’s namesake material, papier-mâché.
Furmanovich’s unique and thoughtful approach to design and collaboration has earned her countless awards and accolades. Today, the same Chilean women who once worried that their ancient techniques would die out in a modern world that often prioritizes speed over craftsmanship feel a renewed sense of accomplishment and self-worth, having collected many of their own awards from global tastemakers.
Last year, Assouline published a gorgeous coffee table book celebrating Furmanovich’s pioneering work, cementing her status as one of this generation’s most inspiring and legendary jewelry designers. Furmanovich is currently working on a second book that will help illuminate the design and collaboration process, offering insight into every step of how her jewelry and accessories are created.
“How many carats, how many grams of gold — this is not so important,” she says. “For me, it’s all about the process and the history.”
When Furmanovich began her life’s work, she thought perhaps she could learn techniques around the world and bring them back to Brazil. “I don’t do it anymore because [I learned] that this is the work of generations. We don’t have the skill. Even if you try, the materials are different, the quality is different. I believe it is important to give local artisans as much work as I can, like we do in marquetry.” Here, she is referring to her popular collection of one-of-a-kind clutches and jewels that marry intricately carved, indigenous salvaged wood with precious gems, gold and diamonds. She says the demand is so strong for these exquisitely designed pieces that she could easily sell much more marquetry than she actually does — if only they had more supply. It takes so much time to make the pieces, she says. It requires daily training for at least a year or two to master the technique. “It’s not easy to learn or copy this technique,” she notes.
Of course, the generational training and enormous amount of expertise that goes into crafting each piece contributes to its value, making it more precious both aesthetically and culturally. “At a time when machines are replacing local artisans, our process involves a lot of energy from people and families,” says Furmanovich. “It’s a very small circle of people engaged in this work. They are real people with feelings and dreams. It’s amazing to see what they can create with just their hands, like old times.”
The Loupe is the largest stockist in the Midwest; Furmanovich says it’s also among the top three in the world — a testament to the brand’s deep commitment to the designer, whose work transcends traditional boundaries of art and commerce. “Each piece is a testament to Silvia’s artistic journey and her dedication to pushing the boundaries of jewelry design,” says McMillan. “In this way, the store acts like a hybrid of a traditional gallery — a space at the convergence of design, art and fashion.”
The time, the patience, the effort: Things that many modern companies see as liabilities, Furmanovich has championed as a new creative model — call it the slow jewelry movement. “I try to emphasize that this is not just my idea and my work,” she says. “It is the collective creativity of many people coming together. When a person buys a piece of my jewelry, it carries the story of all the people involved in its creation.”