Spanish jeweler romances the stones

Tahiti black pearl and diamond set on sillicium and white gold. Photos Provided to China Daily

Paloma Sanchez's jewelry pieces seem right at home in her Beijing shop window. But each bears a tale of adventure, coming from mines and quarries across the globe.

"I have a profound love and respect for precious stones. Their very name 'precious' relates to how they slowly grow only under specific heat and pressure parameters to become individuals unto themselves," the Spanish jeweler says.

Unlike many jewelry designers who buy stones from wholesalers, Sanchez says her journey begins at the source of her stones.

She never expects to find the same stone twice and she will never create the same piece.

"I like unusual gemstones, and I know where to find them and use them in my designs.

"Most people know diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald; but everybody is fascinated by the beauty of a gemstone they have never seen before," says Sanchez, who has been in Beijing for the past six years.

Sanchez counts her binoculars, microscope, spectroscope, UV lamp and refract meter as some of her most important equipment. When she travels , the most important tool for her is experience.

Her quest for unique stones has taken her to the mines of Montana and Arizona in the United States, as well as to far-flung spots including Vietnam, Thailand, Morocco, Colombia, Ethiopia, and China.

In Colombia's Muzo and Chivor regions, Sanchez found the world's best emeralds, and in Madagascar, miners dug out and cranked up the most beautiful sapphires.

"Sometimes their natural rough form is breathtaking enough to showcase with little interpretation, while others can be polished to reveal their fierce inner light," she says.

The hunt for precious gemstones has become a kind of calling for her, Sanchez says.

When she graduated from high school, Sanchez had no idea what she wanted to study.

On a visit to Venezuela where she has some family, she saw diamond mines in the South American jungle and immediately knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life: to design the most beautiful pieces of jewelry.

But she also has a profound love and respect for her father, and that is why her personal journey began with law school. Only when she earned a law degree did her father permit her to resume her journey toward creating jewelry from precious stones.

In the following years, she immersed herself in both retail and the business of global luxury brands, but not using her skills as a gemologist.

In 2009, Sanchez decided to follow her passion and opened her first shop in Beijing's Sanlitun. She says her life in Beijing brings a new, sensational flavor to her design.

"Chinese design never uses sharp, pointed, aggressive edges. I learned that here in China and I think it's so wise. It feels so much better and beautiful and in harmony," she says.

zhanglei@chinadaily.com.cn