Clara & Beth: Full Respect for Craft Centers Outside the City

INTERVIEW by Alberto Chiurato Ranzi

Extravagant jewelry can sometimes be associated with showing off, which today seems outdated, symbolizing capitalism, commercialization, and industrialization. Fashion carries an aspirational value within the consumer goods industry. To find renewed significance, it must reclaim cultural heritage. This entails defining what lies beyond consumerism and waste, embracing a design ethos that elevates manual labor into a noble craft deeply rooted in storytelling and research.

Clara & Beth will be exhibiting at Milano Fashion&Jewels

18-21 February 2024

A dedication to sustainability, craftsmanship, design and manufacturing with the ultimate accuracy. Milano Fashion&Jewels explores a cultural challenge, is sustainability an utopian fantasy or a possibility?

Good morning, Clara and Beth. Clara and Beth’s brand was born when you, a mother and daughter, decided to embark on a joint venture in 2022. How did this idea come about? What led you to dedicate yourselves to the art of jewelry?

We wanted to create something deeply personal, combining our various interests into a single concept and expressing it through a product we hadn’t seen in the market. After many years behind the counter (Elisabeth, the mother), it was time to take the next step. Jewelry became a focus because we are genuine admirers of beautiful things and have had ongoing exposure to jewelry, with Elisabeth through her work and Clara accompanying her mother to fairs and exhibitions.

You mentioned that you begin by sketching from your home in San Sebastián. How do you connect art with design in your pieces?

We start with shapes and elements that inspire us, such as paintings, decorative motifs, landscapes, etc. We imagine the piece in various forms before committing it to paper. Sometimes, the creation of a jewel is sparked by the discovery of a beautiful stone, which serves as the starting point for the design process. For our initial Perpetua collection, we drew inspiration from the geometries of Art Deco, studying paintings, prints, and literature from that era.

Your creations exhibit simplicity in color yet sophistication in structure. How would you define the style of your pieces?

Sophistication is achieved through meticulous craftsmanship, evident in the vintage aesthetic of our hand-set sapphires, rectangular shapes, fringe details, and the natural brilliance of the sapphire itself. We select stones for their unique characteristics, often favoring those with irregularities such as opacity, veining, inclusions, or moss-like patterns—features not commonly found in traditional jewelry. Our aim is to blend these unconventional stones with precious gems, elevating them to the status of high-end jewelry.

Who is the ideal woman to wear Clara and Beth?

The Clara & Beth woman is self-assured, with an appreciation for the beauty of nature and sophistication. She is imaginative, enjoys traveling, embraces cosmopolitan culture, and seeks both classic and distinctive jewelry styles. Her aesthetic can encompass elements of both bohemian and classic sensibilities.

Your production is artisanal and based in Spain. Can you provide insight into the process of creating a jewelry piece?

We begin by sketching our ideas, refining them until we achieve the desired result. Once finalized, we send the sketches to our jewelers, who reproduce them in 3D. After our approval, a resin sample is crafted to scale. Upon further approval, we proceed to create metal samples with stones, culminating in the final product. Iterations are common as we strive for perfection in every detail.

What is your favorite creation among your designs, and can you share the story behind it?

Our favorite creation from the Perpetua collection is the fringed earring, available in a variety of colors. Its geometric shape and fringe details evoke Art Deco style. We particularly admire this design for its use of irregular stones like sodalite and labradorite, which, combined with the fringes, impart a sense of movement and vintage charm, yet maintain a contemporary allure.

Both of you have had an appreciation for beauty from a young age. What serves as your primary inspiration?

Beauty, to us, can be found anywhere—it’s all about perspective and how one chooses to perceive it.

Can you provide insight into any new projects or designs you are currently working on?

We are currently developing our second collection, which embodies a concept distinct from the first while maintaining our commitment to selecting beautiful and distinctive stones. This upcoming collection will explore ethnic and organic themes, drawing inspiration from stones such as fossilized woods, jades, and agates, as well as organic forms found in nature like the sea, waves, and branches. The main stones will be polished but unfaceted, giving them a raw appearance, and all pieces will be accented with tourmalines, mirroring our approach in the Perpetua collection, where each piece is elevated to the status of fine jewelry.