With Hemmerle’s New Infused Jewels Collection, You Can Stop & Smell the Tanzanite
So exquisitely detailed are Hemmerle’s Lavender earrings, one might imagine a floral aroma wafting from them. But what if that were actually the case? What if, behind those violet tanzanites on a bed of sculpted petals, there were a hidden cavity to hold a pinch of the fragrant herb?
That is one of the innovations at the heart of Hemmerle’s new Infused Jewels collection. But first, the germination of a concept: It began with a bespoke blend of tea. Christian Hemmerle and his wife Yasmin, the fourth-generation stewards of the Munich-based jeweler, studied books on botany, immersed themselves in the symbolism of herbs, and learned about their hometown’s long history as a center of homeopathy. They used these discoveries to craft an aromatic brew with Kräutergarten München, the 13 ingredients of which—verbena, coneflower, and rose among them—seeded the idea for a suite of bejeweled trompe l’oeils.
The couple filled their workshop with the flowers, trusting their artisans to accurately recreate them, a process that required months of experimentation. “Our craftsmen poured their hearts and souls into these pieces,” Yasmin says.
Famous for their slow burn approach, the Hemmerles unveil such an elaborate collection only every few years. To accompany the 13 Infused Jewels, which make their debut at TEFAF Maastricht in late June, they commissioned an illustrated short story, “The Herb Garden,” as well as a handmade tea caddy from Nymphenburg, the Bavarian porcelain manufacturer founded in 1747.
There is a fairytale quality to it all, nature’s ethereal beauty immortalized in precious gems. Vivid hues come to life in the Ginger Flower earrings, their pink and white buds rendered in aluminum and diamonds, and in the Lemon Balm earrings, with their undulating green aluminum leaves and tsavorites. On the Orange Blossom brooch, made in collaboration with Nymphenburg, delicate porcelain stamens are crowned with pearls and arranged on leaves of demantoid garnets. “Like the Dutch Old Masters, we look out the window and see natural colors,” Christian says. “We want to reproduce that in our work.”
This story appears in the Summer 2022 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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