I founded ANNARELLE because, for my daughter's First Communion, I was looking for a piece of jewelry that did not exist: fine diamond jewelry that suits a child and lasts a lifetime.
There are moments when you search for something and can't find it. And then, eventually, you understand that you have to build it yourself.
For me, that moment was my daughter Marielle's First Communion.
The Beginning
She stood before me in her white dress, and I knew exactly what I wanted to give her. Not a stuffed animal. Not a gift voucher. Something real. Something that suited this day, that she wouldn't forget after six months because it had tarnished or felt cheap. Something that would last.
I searched for weeks. Specialty stores, online shops, jewelers. What I found disappointed me every time. Children's jewelry that looked like children's jewelry: too delicate, too cute, too fleeting. Or pieces designed for adult women that looked out of place on a child. In between: nothing. No jewelry that said: this day matters. You matter. And this will accompany you.
So I started to design it myself. That later became MINI ME, jewelry for mother and daughter.
What I Bring to the Table
I am a GIA-educated diamond expert, trained at the Gemological Institute of America. Jewelry has been a part of my entire life. As a buyer, as a collector, as someone who has dealt with materials, cuts, and quality long before ANNARELLE was even an idea.
Before ANNARELLE, I worked in management consulting, at ProSiebenSat.1 and for a non-profit organization. I know how companies are built, how markets work, and what it means to set and adhere to high standards. This combination of industry knowledge and entrepreneurial experience is the foundation of ANNARELLE.
This knowledge was both a blessing and a curse. I couldn't look away if a stone was poorly cut. I couldn't ignore it if a setting wasn't right. And I couldn't accept what the market sold as quality: too overpriced, too arbitrary, too far removed from what is truly beautiful.
ANNARELLE is my answer to that.
Why Lab-Grown Diamonds
From the beginning, it was clear that I would work with laboratory-grown diamonds. Not because they are cheaper. But because they are the smarter choice.
A lab-grown diamond is not an imitation. It is made of pure carbon, has a hardness of 10 and is graded by IGI against the same criteria as any diamond. Decades of research stand behind it. At ANNARELLE, every piece is hand-set, hand-assembled and hand-finished, and every lab-grown diamond from 0.5 carat comes with an IGI certificate; natural diamonds from 0.5 carat come with a GIA report. Read more in Lab-grown diamonds: the smart choice.
What differs is the origin. And with it, the question of what you get for your budget.
Then there is the environment. A lab-grown diamond is created without mining. How large its environmental footprint is depends mainly on the energy used to make it. For me, that's not a minor point. When you have children, you think differently about the world you leave behind.
For our laboratory-grown diamonds, we exclusively carry color grades D, E and F with a clarity of VS or better. With lab-grown diamonds, this quality fits a budget that would land you further down the scale with a mined stone. What these grades mean, I explain in The 4 Cs Explained.
The Name
ANNARELLE carries the names of my two daughters. Annabelle and Marielle. One gave the impetus, the other the second part of the name. Together, they are the reason for everything.
And together they showed me what this brand is really about. Not just beautiful jewelry. But about moments that matter. About connections that span generations. About a piece that a mother gives to her daughter, and that the daughter will one day give to her own daughter.
That is ANNARELLE.
For Women Who Don't Wait
ANNARELLE was also created for another woman. The woman who doesn't wait.
It cannot be that a woman might only receive one diamond in her life, and can't even choose it herself. That real jewelry only exists as a gift, only for special occasions, only when someone else decides the moment is worth it.
Why not now? Why not yourself?
ANNARELLE is for women who treat themselves because they want to. Not because a calendar dictates it. Not because someone else decided it. A piece they choose themselves, that fits their life, that they wear whenever they want. You will find a selection under For You.
This is not a gesture of emancipation. It's simply a sensible decision.
What Drives Me
I didn't found ANNARELLE because I saw a market. I founded it because I needed something that didn't exist.
I personally check every stone selection for ANNARELLE, and every finished piece comes to me for inspection before it ships. No piece leaves us that I haven't approved myself. That's not marketing. I don't know any other standard.
Pour toujours.
