Paloma眼中的中國氣場

作為一名設(shè)計師，Paloma Sanchez曾經(jīng)供職于Carrera y Carrera、Hublot、 Cuervo Sobrinos，、Patek Philippe這些國際知名的時尚奢侈品牌。也因為這些工作經(jīng)驗，讓她和北京結(jié)緣，并以此為發(fā)源地，創(chuàng)立了以自己名字命名的珠寶品牌。對于一名西方設(shè)計師和她的品牌來說，從中國發(fā)源顯然在這個行業(yè)是很罕見的。

Paloma告訴《私人飛機》，不僅是因為她剛好身處北京的時機，更是因為她認(rèn)為“所有世上發(fā)生和變化的事都在這里，遠(yuǎn)比在紐約或倫敦要多得多。”而對于一位外國人士來說，在中國創(chuàng)立自己的品牌，與當(dāng)?shù)貦C構(gòu)的往來便比一般人復(fù)雜得多。雙方的溝通和理解是一個很漫長的過程。Paloma排除萬難的耐心等待也終于讓這段佳緣得以促成，正如她對本刊表述的那樣：“當(dāng)你很想要做成一件事的時候，困難便變得微乎其微了。”

作為一名女性，Paloma Sanchez在工作中表現(xiàn)出了異常堅韌的一面。身為設(shè)計師的同時，Paloma也是一位出色的寶石鑒定家，畢業(yè)于素有“寶石界的哈佛”美稱的美國寶石學(xué)院（GIA）。她天生對寶石的熱情讓她更熱衷于到世界各地的礦地去親自發(fā)掘挑選寶石。Paloma通過了解當(dāng)?shù)氐牡刭|(zhì)和環(huán)境來更深入了解寶石本身所具有的特質(zhì)和氣場，不單是觀察寶石本身，這種方式更像是把寶石當(dāng)作一個生命在對待。在發(fā)掘?qū)毷倪^程中，Paloma不曾因惡劣的環(huán)境退卻過，走遍了哥倫比亞、越南、泰國、摩洛哥、馬達加斯加等多個區(qū)域的礦地。在涉入礦地的過程中，Palomo會有身體強壯的伙伴陪同，但他們同樣面臨各種險境，有時甚至要和當(dāng)?shù)氐暮谏鐣蚪坏馈毷灰追矫嬉膊灰祝V地通常都有其主人或隸屬當(dāng)?shù)卣仨氃诤蛯Ψ接谐浞值亟簧嫦拢琍aloma才能被同意進入礦區(qū)，并以雙方都滿意的價錢獲得寶石。Paloma同時向本刊透露，她在GIA學(xué)習(xí)期間的同學(xué)現(xiàn)在很多都是寶石商或珠寶商，這也是一條她獲得理想寶石的好途徑。

談到珠寶作品的設(shè)計風(fēng)格和靈感來源，Palomo Sanchez簡單地總結(jié)道：“可以說寶石本身就是我設(shè)計的靈感源泉。”在Paloma的個人理念中，寶石本身就是一種藝術(shù)。天然的寶石自身在形成的過程中已經(jīng)構(gòu)成了各種形狀，這些形狀常讓她忍不住感嘆大自然的鬼斧神工。Paloma在一些作品的設(shè)計中，幾乎保持了寶石原石的初始樣貌，這些作品被許多寶石愛好者追捧，因為當(dāng)下很難買到幾乎沒有受到損害的寶石原石。

對于很多中國客戶來說，未經(jīng)切割的寶石原石除了天然的藝術(shù)形狀，更重要的是寶石本身具有的氣場未被破壞。客戶能很好地欣賞自己的作品，對于設(shè)計師Paloma本身來說也是件相當(dāng)令人欣慰的事。而中國客戶的表現(xiàn)也可說是當(dāng)初Paloma選擇北京為品牌發(fā)源地明智之舉的最好證明。Paloma表示西方顧客也許對將寶石原石的形狀保留這一新穎的設(shè)計覺得很特別，但中國客戶更能真正地欣賞除設(shè)計以外寶石本身的藝術(shù)感，這些寶石帶給他們能量，并且懂得這些獨一無二的寶石的珍貴性。Paloma的客戶群大多是中國內(nèi)地在大公司任職的高管女性，有著很好的經(jīng)濟背景。她們過去會買一些國際知名的奢侈品牌的珠寶，現(xiàn)在她們更傾向于買Paloma的作品以滿足自己個性化的獨特品味，寶石的財富也是其附加值之一。

目前Paloma Sanchez珠寶品牌在北京設(shè)有店面，身兼設(shè)計師和品牌創(chuàng)始人的Paloma正在上海尋覓合適的店面。Paloma日前受一位英國籍客戶的邀請參加9月的倫敦時裝周，她還曾被Neimain Marcus尋求合作。Paloma希望通過這些機會讓自己的品牌和作品被更多人認(rèn)識。

It is rare for a jewelry brand to be originated from China， especially for an established designer like Paloma Sanchez， who had worked for Carrera y Carrera， Hublot， Cuervo Sobrinos， and Patek Philippe. Sanchez discovered Beijing and was enthralled enough that she decided to build up her own jewelry business here.

“Everything that’s moving and is going on now is happening here， much more than in London or New York，” enthused Paloma to U-Jet. Naturally， for a foreigner to build up a brand in China， it is sometimes challenging to deal with local entities， and there are many difficulties with communications. But Paloma was not the one to be deterred， “If you really want to do something， difficulties are not so big，” said she.

She is a formidable woman at work. Apart from being a designer， she is also a brilliant gemologist， graduating from GIA of the U.S.， the Harvard in the world of gems. Born with a passion for gems， she travels to mines all of the world to select gems. By being in the field， she gets to know the local geology and environment and she has a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of gems. In a way， she sees gems as living creatures. Paloma never refrains from hard terrains， having been to Columbia， Vietnam， Thailand， Monaco， Madagascar and other mining regions. She was accompanied by strongly-built partners， who also could be putting themselves in harm’s way. Occasionally they had to deal with mafias. Gem transactions are never easy. Mines have proprietors or are owned by local governments. Paloma needs to get their permission to enter into the mines an negotiate prices. Paloma revealed to U-Jet that a lot of her classmates at GIA are now gem or jewelry dealers， making it convenient for her to get preferred gems.

“It’s the precious stones that really inspire my designs，” said Paloma Sanchez. Gems are pieces of art in Paloma’s view. Natural gems come with shapes and patterns， which we humans can only marvel at. In some of her works， Paloma took pains to retain the original look of the gems， a design philosophy warmly received by her fans. It is so hard to acquire undamaged gems nowadays.

Chinese buyers are particularly drawn to the character of uncut gems and Paloma shares their enthusiasm and takes great pleasure in making them happy. This shows the acumen of Paloma in choosing Beijing as the birthplace of her own brand. Paloma thinks that westerns are also attracted to gems in their original shape， but Chinese customers always read more into it. They see the artistic value， the energy and the preciousness of one-and-only gems. Many of Paloma’s customers are female senior executives of large corporate. They are financially well-off. They used to buy international luxurious brands and they are now more drawn to niche brands like Paloma Sanchez， to get more originality and personality.

Paloma Sanchez has a boutique store in Beijing. She is looking for a place in Shanghai. Paloma has been invited to participate in the fashion week in September in London. Neimain Marcus sought her out. Paloma hopes that through these exposures， her brand and her works will be known to more.