“I arrived in Ibiza by chance and fell in love with it,” Natasha Collis recalls as we sit in the 400-year-old building which is now her workshop and jewellery store near the church in San Miguel.
She already had a successful jewellery design business in London – with her delicate and intricate pieces being stocked in world famous stores including Liberty’s in London and Barney’s in New York, to name a few.
Natasha, who hails from north London, has retail in the blood. Her grandmother founded Browns fashion boutiques in London and her parents, Molton Brown, the British fragrance brand.
But she found her own direction. There was something about the island that draw her to move with her two-year-old son and to open her first and only shop and website.
“I said to myself if I’m going to to do it (open a store) I want to have the space and quietness to be creative. The location was really important and also love the idea that people find the shop by chance while on holiday, almost by chance, and then they learn that everything is handmade and created in the studio. The store itself is really beautiful, it really spoke to me – and that is really important for the creative process.”
She explains it used to be a post office and also a police station; “You can still see the original hooks where the police hung their bicycles from the beams.”
She used interior designer Olivia Lichtig for the decor, choosing cabinets in keeping with the history of the building, choosing pieces that have a story and blended with the centuries old walls.
Natasha’s designs are all unique and made by her own hands on the premises – amid the sleepy mountains of north Ibiza.
She describes her jewellery as sustainable as she uses recycled gold and ethically mined stones.
Everything is made from 18 carat gold and from precious stones such as diamonds, emeralds and sapphires – and she has developed her own technique to create a unique style of jewellery, from rings, to bracelets, necklaces, to bangles.
“I shape gold, each piece of gold,” she explains and described the basis of her work as creating nuggets. “When you see a real nugget from a river, it has been shaped over the years where the water has smoothed it all down in a very organic way. I create that for myself – that is my signature – with diamonds set into it very delicately or often larger stones. It is a technique that I have created which I shape gold in that moment but then it can take hours to actually get that shape right. I make the shape of the gold to harmonise with the shape of the stone. I love what I do and love creating these one off pieces.”
Natasha studied fine art back in London and wanted to be a fine art painter but now feels she using her background to develop her jewellery designs.
“I found my medium through jewellery – maybe I’ll go back to painting, who knows. But I’m really happy creating jewellery. I do feel more creative here. I don’t think I have had ever had a block here, but I have had a block in London,” she laughs.
So what’s next for Natasha, well she is full of ideas for her jewellery but also making the most of the island she loves. “It’s been a journey to get here, up and down, it hasn’t always been easy but I still feel so lucky and privileged living here, and to be doing something that I love. I now have started to enjoying travelling a little more – but the great thing is when you return, you appreciate getting back to this beautiful island even more.”
