“I never did flowers before—it’s the first time for me,” jewelry designer Ana Khouri confesses as she reveals a spectacular floral fantasia, clearly inspired by tulips, rendered in rock crystal and diamonds and suspended from a Fairmined 18-karat-gold collar. Some of these blooms sway slightly, as if caught in the gentlest of breezes as you rush up the museum steps to the Met Gala or pause for a nightcap at the Grand Hotel Quisisana.
Khouri, who grew up in Brazil and moved to New York in 2012, has exhibited her extraordinary creations all over the world. Earlier this year, she was the recipient of the Gem Award for High Jewelry Excellence. But before these tulips burst onto the scene, she was better known for her highly abstract, sculptural creations, including, for example, pieces made of rosewood and enhanced with the occasional, unexpected diamond. Still, if this new work is a departure, its sinuous curves link it to her earlier endeavors. Why this change? “I wanted to do something a little more delicate,” says Khouri.
