FROM LAILA
LAILA
AL-HUMAIDHI
JEWELLERY
At the British Academy of Jewellery, I learnt tranditional goldsmithing techniques by hand. Then, in 2023 I trained and qualified as a gemologist at The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and stones stopped being colours. For two years I sat as a gemologist in a laboratory grading gemstones and diamonds, and once you have looked inside enough of them you cannot go back to buying one off a list. I choose every stone myself under a microscope before anything is designed and no two are ever the same.
I choose every stone under a microscope.
I design around the stone, not the other way round.
The Jardins
What I find extraordinary about gemstones is that we can look at them, sometimes no bigger than a few millimetres, admire their beautiful colour and think how wonderful they are. But for me, when I place a stone under a microscope and look inside, that’s when you see the real magic.
Suddenly, an entirely different world opens up. What might appear to be a tiny inclusion to the naked eye becomes an extraordinary landscape of colour, texture and intricate formations. No two gemstones are ever the same, and I often find myself wishing I could jump inside and swim through these incredible little worlds.
In gemmology, the term jardin, French for garden, is used to describe the natural inclusions found within emeralds. At Laila Al-Humaidhi Jewellery, I have taken this beautiful idea and extended it to all gemstones. Because when I look inside a stone, I don’t just see inclusions or imperfections. I see its own individual world, a beautiful garden that has been forming deep within the earth for millions of years.
It’s these hidden worlds that fascinate me most. They are what make every gemstone entirely individual, and why, for me, the stone will always come first.
