With only Recycled Gold and Lab-Grown Diamonds, eco-friendly packaging, and transparent processes, MATILDE jewels are about to become everything you want

I&#39;ve always had an immeasurable passion for minimal bright jewels, those that own a peculiar light and don&rsquo;t need anything else to shine. Singular designs, attention to details and uniqueness, aren&#39;t these the traits we&nbsp;all look for when buying jewelry? When I came around MATILDE Jewellery I knew my resourches were over. Her luminous drops of gold stole my heart immediately., it was love at first sight.&nbsp;Since the entire collection made my heart beat faster, I wanted to know more, curious to unveil the history behind the brand. Where&nbsp;did that intense gold&nbsp;come from? (spoiler alert: it turned out to be recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds Yes, you read it right, recycled gold!) How did Matilde manage to create such uncommon designs? The only solution to get all the answers I was looking for&nbsp;was to go straight to the source: ask Matilde&nbsp;herself to tell the story of her new-born brand. How could her passion for vintage be turned into a sustainable jewelry line? (I bet you&rsquo;ve heard about second hand-clothes, but what about sustainable jewels?) and last but not least, how could her minimal creations be so fairy enchanting? Luckily&nbsp;for me Matilde was kind enough to answered all my questions and by the end of the interview I was sure about two thing: first one: this brand will become iconic, second one: my life is absolutely sketchy without the Celestial Ring.

Launching your own jewelry line must be super exciting! How are you feeling?

Ahead of the launch I was really nervous, but at the same time this is something I have been working on and building for so long, that I was excited to finally share it! To me it&rsquo;s more than just a launch of a new brand, it has been an educational process and something I was determined and passionate to work on from the beginning. Now post-launch I am relieved but equally excited that the MATILDE brand is out there!

Have you been passionate about jewelry since you were a kid? How important do you think are jewels on a person?

I have always loved jewellery and when I was younger, I would ask my parents to buy me strings with beads so I could make my own jewellery and set up my own &ldquo;shop&rdquo; at home. I always loved it and as I grew up, my education and professional experiences shifted towards a more fashion-focused route, but jewellery always meant so much to me. I love the power that jewellery has to hold memories, people, places and experiences that are so close to someone. Every piece of jewellery I have ever owned reminds me of someone or a time in my life, and with this I knew I always wanted to eventually play a part in giving those feelings to someone else.

At what point did you realize that jewels design was a viable career option for you?

My academic and professional experiences were more focused in the fashion industry, having graduated from London College of Fashion with a BA in Creative Direction for Fashion, and having a lot of experience in working within the industry. It was when I started my master&rsquo;s degree at Cond&eacute; Nast College in Entrepreneurship that I realised I could take this passion of mine for jewellery and turn it into a viable career.

Lua Hoops

Sphere Huggies

Tide Earrings

Ara Earrings

Everchanging Hoops

Orbit Hoops

Seed Studs

Do you own a specific jewel that has a special meaning to you? Something that is very close to your heart?&nbsp;

I have a bracelet my parents gave me for my 18th birthday, and I have not taken off since. It always reminds me of my them and that special moment of receiving it. I also have pieces that were passed down to me, in which hopefully I can one day too. Every piece of jewellery I own has different sentimental meanings &ndash; all equally as meaningful to me.

On whom would you love to see a piece from your collection? 

For me, it is more special to see real women wearing pieces from the Matilde Jewellery collection.

Do you have any suggestion for the people who would love to create as well their own line?

As someone who is very new to it, having only launched just under a month ago, I still have so much to learn. If I can give any advice to anyone wanting to create their own brand, is to work hard and if there are any hurdles along the way (which there always are) just try to be flexible and adapt and think of ways to go around them. Patience for your passion is key.

&nbsp;

Azulejo Pendant Necklace

Viana Pendant Necklace

Coracao Necklace

Lady Rose Necklace

Tidal Necklace

The ethic in your brand is exemplary. When was the moment you realize that something needed to change in the market?I have always loved jewellery, but I feel there is so much customers don&rsquo;t know about the origins of the jewellery they own. The more research I did about the jewellery industry, and the mining industry specifically, the more I discovered about the detrimental effects that come from these practices. After being aware of all the negative environmental and societal impacts caused, it became impossible for me to knowingly ignore these. From this, that is when I started researching the sustainable alternatives and decided to create MATILDE.

All your gold is 100% Recycled gold which is fantastic! Can you tell us more about this initiative? Was it hard to find this material? 

All of our gold that MATILDE Jewellery uses is 100% recycled and this was something that was very clear for me to use from the offset. It was one of the first questions I asked when speaking to different manufacturers, was whether they could supply recycled gold and the decision on who to partner with was very heavily based on this. The metal supplier we use now are SCS (Scientific Certification Systems) certified which means they hold the credentials for the responsible sourcing of precious metals. This certification doesn&rsquo;t just cover the use of recycled metals, but it governs a range of business practices related to sustainability and ethical working conditions too.

You studied fashion, what pushed you into the jewelry direction more than creating a fashion line?

I still love fashion, and I think it also has the power to tell stories and hold memories and say a lot about one&rsquo;s self. But I think with jewellery there is more of a personal attachment to it, and it&rsquo;s something that can be passed down between generations and always have sentimental value to it.

Celestial Ring

Roseira Ring

T Ring

Your brand stands out from the crowd for many reasons, one of them is securely the interesting design of each piece. Where do you take inspiration to create them?

I wanted the sustainable first collection to represent some of my favourite things in nature - stars, water, and natural movements of the elements. I love the imperfectly perfect shapes all these elements create, and how they are never the same twice. The Heritage collection is strongly inspired by my Portuguese heritage and the Cora&ccedil;&atilde;o de Viana, filigree and the culture and style of my home country.

And how do you choose the name for the jewels?

It depends, for some pieces I knew exactly what I wanted them to look like because of what inspired their design, so the name almost came before the piece. For some, I waited until the piece came to life to give it a name, based on what it physically looked like, what inspired it, what I felt when I first held it.

Heritage bangle

Linked Bracelet

Minimus Bracelet

Shallow Bracelet

Discover the collection:

https://matildejewellery.com/

Matilde's enchanting world

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