Jewellery OCTOBER 2018 : ISSUE 89
Calling All Angels
Jacquie Aiche tiptoed through the lush gardens of her Beverly Hills showroom to the workshop, creating jewellery enriched by her heritage – and the glittering results caught the eye of LA’s glitterati
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WORDS: CHRIS UJMA
“T
he woman I design for is feminine, sexy, unabashed and barefoot. A risk taker, a troublemaker, a mover, and a shaker,” enthuses jewellery artisan Jacquie Aiche, of her archetypal muse. With her brand based in Tinseltown, such description brings to mind the likes of A-listers like Jennifer Lawrence, Ruby Rose, Hailey Baldwin and Rihanna – and it’s little surprise that these sophisticated rapscallions are all clients. “My ‘JA Tribe ‘is full of women who adore being adorned; lovers of good vibes, the energy of minerals, and layers of diamonds, of course,” the founder adds. Aiche started out working in a boutique, but “found it hard to find jewellery that I connected with,” she says. “Traditional, classical jewellery is amazing, but it’s just not to my taste. I wanted to create adornments that were sensual and feminine. Pieces that would make women feel like the goddesses that we are. So, I started designing my own jewellery and selling anonymously.” The response confirmed her intuition of “This is what I was meant to do”.
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Going all-in, Aiche turned her old Beverly Hills home into a dedicated workshop/ showroom, and by going it alone she struck gold – 14k, being exact, which is the basis for each piece. She combines the precious metal with diamonds and gemstones, in designs that echo her Egyptian / Native American heritage and other intriguing references. At her atelier, Aiche says she surrounds herself “with people who can make the biggest challenges feel small and easy to face,” adding, “I feel so blessed to have so many incredible women in my tribe and it truly has all happened organically. I think a lot of women are drawn to my designs for the exact reason I started making jewellery in the first place. To find something that you connect to on a spiritual level and that you never need to take off because it makes you feel like a goddess. Every woman should feel that.” It’s hard to resist name-dropping when discussing this brand, but Aiche has allured an enviable client base. Pull up recent social media snaps of free-spirited trendsetters, and you’ll see them draped in these curios of earthy elegance; Emily Ratajkowski (wearing a mini bone double
