Where to Find the Best Jewelry and Watches in Istanbul
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At Sunset Grill & Bar, a swanky hillside restaurant in the Ulus Park neighborhood of Istanbul, the signature cocktails—a Chivas, sweet vermouth, and lime concoction known as the Dagger 565 and an Absolut and Chambord libation called the Rose 505—are served in ornate silver goblets that look like relics from the Ottoman era. A pair can be yours for $2,000.
Designed by Sevan Bıçakçı, arguably Turkey’s best-known jeweler, the Serpentine glasses feature coiled snake-like stems that recall the serpent column in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square. (The ancient bronze column, which is believed to have been brought to Constantinople by Constantine the Great in the 4th century, once dominated the old city’s Hippodrome.)
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Waiters serve the frothy cocktails with a powdered cinnamon flourish in the shape of Bıçakçı’s icon, an ancient dagger. The restaurant, seeking to honor Istanbul’s rich history, couldn’t have picked a better collaborator. A Turk of Armenian descent, Bıçakçı has spent the past 35 years immortalizing the city—including its rulers, architecture, and landscapes—in one-of-a-kind jewelry creations astonishing to behold in all their multilayered complexity.
He belongs to a generation of talented Turkish designers that is reinventing the city’s ancient jewelry scene—one reason why a trip to the historic metropolis should be on every jewelry lover’s must-do list. Below we share three essential places to shop.
Sevan Bıçakçı
Istanbul’s major tourist sights—the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Basilica Cistern—are a short and scenic walk from Bıçakçı’s five-story atelier, located steps away from the Grand Bazaar. But if you would rather avoid the crowds, simply peek inside his displays.
One of the jeweler’s Hagia Sophia rings, for example, captures the majesty of the landmark in miniature. It features a rendering of the Byzantine emperor Justinian’s magnificent mosque carved from the inside of a large domed quartz crystal, a painstaking technique known as reverse intaglio. The crystal sits atop a setting made of gold and silver surrounded by diamonds on a mosaic of sugilite and lapis.
Best known for his myriad interpretations of these reverse intaglio rings, weighty padlock necklaces in blackened silver and gold and gem-encrusted bangle bracelets accented with slithering snakes, daggers and other signature elements, Bıçakçi recently introduced a line of diamond solitaires that are the polar opposite of a classic six-prong engagement ring.
Bıçakçı’s rings feature fancy shaped stones—pears and modified emerald cuts—that sit high on the finger. Beneath them are voluptuous bulbs of rock crystal carved from the inside with a riot of colorful floral blooms. Also new is a range of cuff bracelets with finial ends capped by diamonds and colored stones.
If you make it to the atelier, there’s a good chance that Bıçakçı will be there to greet you. He doesn’t speak much English, but, adorned in rings, bracelets and necklaces of his own making, he is a walking billboard for his uniquely Turkish brand of craftsmanship — and has a warm and welcoming spirit to boot!
Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazaar, the world’s largest enclosed bazaar, is an obvious place to shop for jewelry, but the vast and repetitive selection of yellow-gold jewels may turn off buyers in search of one-of-a-kind treasures.
Instead, make a beeline to Gurger Watch & Jewellery Co., a narrow shop jampacked with vintage gold timepieces, from a cushion-shaped Vacheron Constantin c. 1973 (complete with an extract from the archives signed by Christian Selmoni, the brand’s director of style and heritage) to a Patek Philippe Ellipse with a dreamy blue dial on a handmade gold bracelet.
Located in the oldest part of the Bazaar, known as “old Bedesten,” the shop is owned by Metin Gurger—ask any shopkeeper and they’ll be able to point you in the right direction. Same goes for Ziva Jewellery and Şalebi Jewellery, two well-regarded sellers of vintage and antique jewels (think Pomellato, Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co.), also located in the Grand Bazaar.
Aida Bergsen
At her elegant salon in Nişantaşı, an upscale neighborhood of tree-lined streets in the Şişli district on Istanbul’s European side, jeweler Aida Bergsen showcases sculptural designs meant to evoke the mythos of this ancient crossroads.
Raised in Cyprus, Bergsen, a sculptor by training, moved to Istanbul in 1986. She created larger figurative pieces in bronze and eventually began working with wax, falling in love with the process. “I liked it so much that I wanted to develop my skills and after that I started working with jewelry,” she tells Robb Report. “I used the same technique that I used to use for my sculptures, a very primitive technique.”
That was 25 years ago and Bergsen has never looked back. Her collection, sold across the U.S. and Europe by chic designer jewelry retailers such as Broken English (with stores in Los Angeles and New York), features bold jewels—including plenty of dramatic two-finger rings—in 18k gold and oxidized silver peppered with diamonds, opals, and brightly colored gems.
From designs that pay homage to flora and fauna—vines, flowers, and snails, for example—to pieces that celebrate Bergsen’s fascination with mythological figures such as Medusa (represented by an array of coiled snake earrings, rings, and pendants), the jewelry reflects her commitment to upholding a tradition that can only be found in Istanbul.
“Every single piece is made at my workshop in the Grand Bazaar,” Bergsen says. “I prefer to work with the old goldsmiths who are disappearing.”
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