SANJA Spahr’s rich jewelry reflects her multicultural background, a savvy mix of East and West. During her childhood in Libya, her imagination was fired by the Thousand and One Nights and since then, she has shown a preference for opulent jewels. In her adolescent years when minimalism was fashionable, Sanja would go searching for glitzy pieces at the flea market. She freely admits her passion for Hollywood’s golden era of the 40’s when women were truly glamorous and feminine. This inspired her to create an exclusive Vintage Line: “I enjoy looking for antique pieces of jewelry, remodeling them and giving them a new lease of life. My aim is to retain the exceptional quality of the jewel while giving it a contemporary look.”
Sanja Spahr also develops the design. An innovative design not only adds value to a jewel but is a value in itself. At recent auctions, pieces fetched by jewelers recognized for their creativity have been sold at high prices, completely disconnected from their ‘material’ value.
“The thing that privileged customers really want today is exclusivity: Original one-off pieces that no one else possesses rather than a diamond solitaire that for the same price-even big-price another woman can have,” explains Spahr.
Unlike most jewelers, Sanja Spahr does not look exclusively for perfect gems. She believes in the magic of natural stones: “A garden or a river in a gem is its pedigree, the story of its life, and a reflection of its soul and unmatched beauty.”
Unsurprisingly, she loves working with “ice diamonds.” Their name is due to a complete lack of transparency but it is precisely this opacity that, according to Sanja, gives them “an air of rock and roll.”
She travels extensively to buy gems and meet her clients all over the world. She not only strives for exclusive designs but also wants an exclusive approach as well as privileged contact with her clientele: She sells by appointment only.
In times of cost-cutting and delocalization, Sanja Spahr insists on hand made jewelry crafted in some of the world’s most prestigious ateliers in Paris and Geneva. Her quest for perfection stems from a lifelong search for a gratifying occupation.
A gifted student, she passed her bar exams, followed by a master’s in European law. Bored by her work with a law firm, she joined a multinational firm to develop business with Eastern European countries. She began studying jewelry at the prestigious Central Saint Martin School while still working as a lawyer and eventually received a diploma in gemology from Antwerp.
She soon started to design her first pieces. Hand made in Switzerland, Sanja’s jewels were an immediate success. In 1977, she finally decided to give up her career as a lawyer and set up a jewelry business. Presently based in Paris, Sanja is always traveling, searching for attractive stones. She acknowledges that she is first drawn by the color of the gem: “As soon as I see a stone, I feel an urge to blend with other colors. I am really interested in mixing different colored stones.” She feels that her goal is not to work with merely one stone but to enhance the natural beauty of that stone by combining it with other gems.
Sanja does not use all her gems in making women’s jewelry; she has also specialized in men’s jewelry. She was, in fact, a pioneer in designing a line of jewelry for men: “When it comes to jewelry, luxury should not be a matter of gender.” Her first signature rings, the Barbarian and the Gladiator, were immediately successful. For more than a decade, she has created skillfully hammered men’s rings with a virile yet refined look. Some of her pieces are tinged with humor. Sanja Spahr has named a pair of cufflinks in the shape of a mouth “French kiss.” She says, “I feel that women do not need this touch of humor, wearing jewelry is something simple and natural for them but that is still not true for men.”
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