How would you describe your work

Hanna Bernhard is a team, I work with my husband Fernand; we create spectacular rhinestone jewelry, mostly animals, each piece is one-of-a-kind. We use brass settings and elements that we solder together, and as the pieces are tridimensional, we generally need to create a sculpture first. After the soldering, pieces are bronzed, silvered or gilded, then we prongset the stones.

We do not use any mold, everything is done by hand in our Parisian studio.

Where do you see Hanna Bernhard in the design spectrum

Our jewelry is wearable art. Most of the time we create a display so customers can enjoy the piece as a decorative object when it is not worn.
The technique for making our jewelry is an old process which was used by French designers in the 50s 60s, like Roger Jean Pierre and Roger Scemama, who were designing Haute couture jewelry for the big brands like Dior, Nina Ricci and more.

Which products are you most proud of

We have been asked to create a Chinese dragon necklace a few years ago; we had never made such a piece before so it was a big challenge for us. We all loved the result!

What was your earliest ambition

We both would have loved to be a surgeon.

What ambitions do you still have

We want to launch a line of limited edition jewelry. We wish to explore more possibilities and use other materials such as resins, fine metals, precious stones. Of course we will still create everything ourselves, sculpt our own designs and mold them, not use existing stampings like many people do.

Who was your mentor

20 years ago I have met a man who was working for a French jewelry factory named ‘Anseline’, he was creating this type of jewelry for Haute couture houses. I have always loved to create, no matter what and no matter what technique is used; learning another technique is just another way to express myself. So Pierre taught me his technique, then I met my husband who learned it as well. Fernand was dental prothesist at that time and had a perfect 3D vision of things, so he combined both skills which are still the bases of our creations.