Born to Shine: Valérie Messika on her Eponymous Jewellery Brand

The Messika story begins with André, who, from the age of 22, dedicated his life to diamonds. Speaking to his daughter, Valérie, it’s clear that her family’s legacy of diamond expertise meant she was born to fulfil something even greater.

While her brand is still in its infancy compared to other haute joaillerie brands, Messika’s operations, scale, design and success are anything but infantile. The younger Messika is jovial about her diamonds. This emotion feeds into her ethos and deviation from the “strict codes of the traditional jewellery houses”.

She speaks about these dazzling gemstones the way most people speak about an old love: “My first real crush on diamonds was at the age of 12 when I found an envelope containing tiny diamonds in my father’s office.”

Messika began learning the ropes from her father in 2000, but she was “craving a more creative role”. It wasn’t until she began designing jewellery for herself – and her friends lined up for their own custom pieces – that Messika realised her passion could one day form the foundations of a successful business.

Aside from her zest, what sets Messika apart is her respect for the stones. “We have always approached diamonds differently,” she muses, adding that the design first starts with the stones in a “free and audacious mindset.”

“When I get a stone, I always try to keep the diamond’s identity,” she continues. “You need to be passionate about the stone in order to create amazing pieces of jewellery.”

This sentiment is evident in her high jewellery and the more commercial everyday collections, such as Move, featuring an array of must-have bangles. Touchingly, she has named pieces after her children Romane and Noa. While it all starts with the diamonds, Messika is under no illusions when it comes to the power and importance of craftsmanship. Her Paris haute joaillerie atelier opened in 2015, with the creative director and team all working alongside Messika under the same roof.

“I see the atelier as a special place where inspiration takes form,” she shares, adding that she “had to be patient and gain sufficient maturity” to fulfil the design expectations of a high jewellery house. This was a learning curve in building brand credibility, but her atelier has become a successful venture, with haute joaillerie making up 15% of the brand’s revenue today.

Messika’s breakthrough collection, Move, was inspired by her childhood experiences. “Move is the creation that gave the house of Messika its signature style. When I first created it, the diamonds were static and everybody was trying to move them, so I developed a new system with moving diamonds,” she explains. “This mechanism reminded me of when I was a little girl and I would play with the stones on my fingers, making the diamonds move.”

These personal touches inform every new collection: “I always put a part of myself into my designs.” Such experiences can only come from those who have spent a lifetime perfecting their craft, and for Messika, the goal was clear from the beginning: “I spotted a market need between big jewellery houses that predominantly offered very serious and classical expensive pieces, and other jewellery brands that offered consumer jewellery made without precious stones.”

Messika’s familiarity and natural ease with diamonds has been skilfully brought to the market. “I liked the idea of being able to wear diamonds daily. I wanted to break down any sort of age and style barriers,” she says. “The Messika woman is the woman of today, she’s daring, courageous – and sometimes mysterious.”

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