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Bio


Marijoli is jewellery that plays with the tension between contrasts. These are beautiful wearable art pieces that embody a philosophy and lifestyle espousing simplicity yet richness, that borrow from history as much as modernity, and are delicate as much as they are avant-garde.
Having launched her collection in 2006 in Tokyo where she was based at the time, the young, dynamic, Swiss-born jeweller, Marielle Byworth, rapidly created a cult following for her unique easily identifiable signature Elema collection and its organic shapes.
Since then she had pushed the boundaries of jewellery design with her unorthodox combinations of precious and semi-precious stones and modern materials, which have made her pieces highly coveted staples for women internationally- from her home city of Hong Kong, to the red carpet of Cannes. Diamonds are combined with black vinyl, rubies are paired with wood, and coloured stones are layered atop leather to create a look of modern elegance. Fusing influences from her childhood in Switzerland, the urban environment of her former home in Tokyo and elements of Asian spiritual philosophy, each piece of Marijoli jewellery is a work of inspiration and imagination.
Trained at the Graphic Art School of Swiss Romande (ERAG) and the University of Art and Design of Lausanne, Switzerland (ECAL), Marielle has an eye for detail and technical perfection while always maintaining functionality and emphasizing the beauty of design.
Since relocating to HK from Tokyo, Marielle has redirected much focus to creating special bespoke pieces for men and women. All pieces are produced in either her atelier in Hong Kong or Switzerland.




Marielle Byworth, a romantic definitely looking at the future.
 
The world of jewels carries strong emotions and amazing stories.
From the Antiquity (Egypt, Rome, the Chinese emperors) through Marie Antoinette and the story of the queen’s necklace, to the twenties where the jewels worn by Barbara Hutton, the rich American heiress, made her as famous as her fortune or her seven weddings! (a little episode that says a lot about the supreme elegance of that lady: everyday she had for breakfast an “oeuf a la coque”, a boiled egg, at the Ritz, the most expensive restaurant in the world.)

A lifestyle’s philosophy which is found in the combination of simplicity and richness of Marielle Byworth’s jewelry collection. But jewelry is not only about carats and millions. The world of creation through its greatest artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Dali, has always been interested in the jewelry world. Jewelry fascinates. It has a force of evocation which, surprisingly, dresses, hats, handbags, do not have. Probably the renowned spiritual power of the stones and pearls…
As for the brand Marielle Byworth, the story has just begun. Having started 3 years ago with the collection Marijoli, the young, dynamic creator Marielle Byworth, a tremendous traveler, converts her travel impressions into rings and bracelets « manchettes », pendants and earrings, all as Baroque and imaginative as contemporary.

Her friends’ enthusiastic response encouraged her to pursue on a larger scale, helped in this by her husband’s family, jewelers for 5 generations.
Creator of customized emotions, her collections are also a double of herself, of her childhood close to nature where  much of her inspiration is born, which transposes in this jewelry collection baptized Marijoli where all the romantic lovers of contemporary forms will recognize themselves.
She launches several collection themes per year but the guideline remains Nature. Her childhood, spent in the North of Western Switzerland left her a taste for drops of sparkling dew on golden Autumn leaves, or the morning sun reflecting on the whiteness of snow or still, the charm of the trees, which branches have been stripped by Winter, recalling by their simple lines the Japanese calligraphy which she loves so much, after she could appreciate it during her stay in Japan. Sometimes inspired by the beauties of the deep seas, where she often dives amongst corals which she observes through the water’s refraction, the star fishes and the spiraled shellfish compelling with purity, she uses coral and nacre.

Trained to design art at the la Graphic Art School of Swiss Romande (ERAG) and the University of Art and Design of Lausanne, Switzerland (ECAL), she never forgets the importance of the functionality of the object, neither its form nor touch. Still under the influence of her stay in Japan, she practices a few hours of yoga before starting any creation. Exercise brings her focus, patience and the spirituality necessary to the creation of pieces which one could characterize as ”zen. A drawing book always at hand, she finds inspiration in everything that surrounds and touches her, but is extremely rigorous in the details: she follows the production from A to Z. Stones are the product of the depths of the Earth, mounting them is the product of human imagination. Marketing, product of studies, not from the imagination of an artist, only follows the wishes of the clients but a true creator such as Marielle feels and offers to others what they do not know they are wishing for.

She likes and uses each type of stone, including some less expensive varieties such as the turquoise, citrine, amethyst, coral or enamel. Huge fan of Jackson Pollock, Marielle has very well caught the secret of modern elegance, juxtaposing precious stones with modern materials of a lesser value, these materials giving a less excessive aspect and holding some mystery to the pieces.
She respects the ambivalent nature of an ornament which must reflect the ambivalence of the human heart. Like any true creator, she knows that the chicest is obtained by making unorthodox combinations of precious stones and noble materials but without any market value. Thus, Marielle Byworth lays diamonds on vinyl, rubies on wood, colored stones on leather.
It’s a comeback to the « nonchalance » of a Coco Chanel who was famous for wearing her emeralds to go swimming as well as wearing her 6 ranks of fine pearls on a pullover. We come back here to the “oeuf a la coque“ tasted at the Ritz.

Marielle keeps on pushing modern jewelry to its limits.  Entirely a woman of her times, she adds: » I am aiming at working on materials that can be recycled and not re-sold » which does not prevent her from observing the tradition with all the necessary deference to sometimes refer to the Antiquity, this inexhaustible inspiration source.
The history of jewelry is a fairy tale made of give and take, of borrowings made between the past and the present, a combination of Classical and Baroque, luxury and sobriety.
Her Greco-Roman, possibly Byzantine “manchette” are indeed requested by the most famous people in show business.
Marielle often reproduces the same design using diamonds of different colors knowing so well that a slight color variation is all it takes to change completely a jewel.
Through the years, the most accurate adjective to describe Marielle Byworth will be «timeless », outer fashion and above trends. But this word is too general to define her collections. Each piece made is or will be a child of the moment, and will reflect the exact time when it was created.

Marijoli: a style so pure, it meets flamboyance


Françoise Moréchand - 2009