FRANCISCA BASTOS DESIGN

Spring and summer are distant memories so let's make the most of Brazil's summer season by visiting Copacabana Beach.

Clear views of the ocean's vivid blue waters will be a little challenging since we will have plenty of company.

Brazil is also the home of featured jewelry designer Francisca Bostas.

It is the ultimate trifecta; a designer of Italian and French ancestry establishes her jewelry company in Brazil, a country spilling over with spectacular gemstones!

The coming together of diverse cultural aesthetics, each providing history-making contributions to the jewelry industry, lends itself to pieces that are stunningly beautiful and romantic.

With studies completed in architecture and jewelry design, Bastos' work with vibrant and fluid gemstones, both precious and semi-precious, like emerald, garnet, lavender quartz, and citrine, is unmistakably Brazilian.

Using accents of 18-karat gold, her blend of semi-precious and precious gemstones and beads result in pieces inspired by Southeast Asia, Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana, and Marie Antoinette.

Color is used as an interpretive tool to mirror Brazil's majestic landscape, and breathtaking fauna and flora; while iridescent pearls and sparkling white diamonds interpret the romance and opulence of 18th century France.

"I have worked with stones in every shape and color for almost 25 years," says Bastos, "The stones originate in different mines in Brazil. As I receive them, they are transformed into handmade jewelry that reflects elegance and transcends time and trends."

The Italian element, I feel, of Bostas' designs is evident in the Old World texture and cinching of her 18-karat gold cuff ring from her Copacabana Collection.

The color of the gemstones, whether soft or dramatic, is so sumptuous like ripe fruit. There is a bracelet made with aquamarine and it is such an ethereal piece it evokes an image of the stones namesake: water.

Bastos' jewelry pieces have been exhibited in Canada, Peru, England, France, and the United States.

In 2008, UN Goodwill Ambassador Marjorie Andrade selected Bastos to create an 18-karat gold medallion, called the Unity Medal, for presentation to Prince Albert II of Monaco during the 2008 Princess Grace Awards Gala.
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Photo 1 (top right): Rutilated Quartz and Pearl Cuff with 18-Karat Gold Accents
Photo 2 (bottom left): The Aquamarine Bracelet with 18-Karat Gold Clasps