Couture Basel

The jeweled butterfly shimmers with exotic stones and seems to be ready to take flight. Yes, the wings are indeed moving thanks to a technique called Tremblant used by Ella Gafter of Ellagem, New York. Tremblant, an art form ignored by jewelry designers for decades, due to its difficulty in execution, is just one of the reasons Gafter's creations are unique and a true art form.

Gafter, who came to Italy from Poland and began making jewelry for nobility, doesn't take the easy way when it comes to making jewelry. After all jewelry is not just jewelry, it is an art and Gafter has been creating one-of-a-kind sculptures in precious metals and the highest quality gems and South Seas pearls for years.

Today, with her daughter, Talila, a Harvard business graduate, Ellagem, based in New York, dresses the world's elite in exquisite jewelry. This mother/daughter team says the main advantage to women designing for women is that women designers understand that good jewelry should be conceived as part of a woman's wardrobe as a regularly decorative item rather than as some big time luxury item to be used only on special occasions. "Moreover, a woman designer is often extra attentive in the manufacture of her pieces. They should be comfortable, lay nicely and as versatile as possible," sasy Talila Gafter, who remarks on her mother's contribution to ther art of pearl design, especially when working with large pearls. "If you think about it, traditionally pearls have been used as strands, stud earrings, plain hanging drops, and of course, as rich decorations of royal dress. As a raw material for use in precious designs, the large pearl did not enjoy the same development as diamonds and precious stones have over the years," says Talila. Indeed each piece of jewelry created by Ella Gafter is organically developed around a specific pearl which is hand-selected because of its charm, because it "speaks" and engages one, her daughter says.