Adler’s “wink” to whimsy

The high-end jewellery brand showcased its latest collection at the Istana boutique in the newly-opened Four Season Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach

Carlo Adler, Company President, exclusively revealed what makes consumers in the region so appealing to the jewellery industry, and provided some insight into Adler’s jewellery, overall

Why is Dubai a significant location for the new line to be exhibited?

The Middle East is important for Adler as a whole. I have been coming to Dubai for about 35 years, and we have been working together with Istana for decades. Of course, the Middle East weighs very heavily in the jewellery market, because people here are connoisseurs of jewellery, and jewellery is in the culture – all of this makes the region a very important market for us, and the industry in general.

Please elaborate on the new collection

In this collection we have concentrated a bit on contrasts; for example we have a necklace with one side set completely with white diamonds in white gold, and the other side is set with only deep blue sapphires in black gold. With some pieces we have graduating colours, for example, going from light blue, to dark blue, to darker blue. Of course there is a lot of use of diamonds, but we have also incorporated sapphires, rubies and emeralds in this collection.

In what way is this collection quintessential for Adler; what are the brand’s signatures evident in these pieces?

We never do art for art’s sake. Adler jewellery has been described as classic with a twist – for example, in the case of this collection, there are no diamonds used in or around the coloured stone setting. Our jewellery is wearable, it is not completely crazy in terms of design, but there is always an element of originality, and that is evident in this collection as well. In French we call it “un clin d’oeil”, “a wink”.

What do you find most challenging in your craft?

The most difficult thing that we do is choosing and calibrating stones. It is getting to be really difficult. Getting the right stone for the right piece of jewellery can be very challenging and time-consuming.

You previously mentioned the challenge associated with using titanium in your jewellery; have people become more open to it in your opinion?

Absolutely! We’ve been using titanium now on a regular basis. We have been very avant-garde in our approach. When we opened the business in Europe, we did a lot of research and development in the area of new materials. In the seventies, we started using precious wood, something very unusual for jewellery; later on, we went into titanium and that was also controversial, and now finally, it has been accepted completely. In the past few years, we have also used carbon fibre, and that has been very popular with the young crowd. We take risks; that’s the advantage of being an independent family company.