Past careers and life experiences are what shape us, both practically and creatively. Susana Grau Batlle spent more than 20 years delivering development and humanitarian aid in some of the world’s most challenging yet culturally, artistically and visually rich locales. By amalgamating all these influences and ideas into fine jewellery, she has created an eponymous brand that is richly interwoven with symbolism and storytelling. Her debut The Mother of Mothers collection, for example, encapsulates the earth, the process of creation and the feminine force and soul that guides all terrestrial and invisible realms. The collection’s use of unusual materials, like chrysocolla azurite, faceted zircons, tsavorites and diamonds, is another of Susana’s consistent themes. Rather than feeling tied to more ‘traditional’ materials, she selects those that will help express her artistic concept for that collection, often taking months or years to find the right combinations.
“For me, jewellery and gemstones speak a silent language of connection,” Susana says. “They transcend mere objects; the vibrations of the stones weave a silent dialogue. It’s a secret conversation where you whisper to the stone, and in turn, it whispers back to you. In these intimate exchanges, no one else is listening—it's a sacred moment between you and the gem.”
My first encounter with A Trilogy of Evolution – Susana’s latest collection – was in Singapore at the JeweLuxe event. I will admit to being most blown away by Evolution Through Light, the third phase in this jewellery triptych, but this is one creative outpouring that deserves to be told in order, just like the chapters in a book. The entire collection is themed around the “essence of transformation and beauty,” incorporating themes of form, time and light and how these combine to produce something metamorphosised… like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
“This collection explores the development of consciousness in matter whilst toying with the interplay between perceptions of the conscious and unconscious, time and moment, singularity and oneness,” Susana Grau Batlle.
Let’s begin with Evolution Through Form, which uses the natural rough-hewn texture of a particularly special mineral to evoke the idea of a “divine promise” of things to come. The Form 1 ring features a 19.05 carat Paraiba tourmaline in its quartz matrix – literally as if it has just emerged from the ground – surrounded by 50 faceted Paraiba tourmalines, 28 brilliant-cut d8iamonds, and two rose-cut diamonds, all set in 18k white gold and platinum. I have never seen a designer use Paraiba in rough form like this (not in all my travels!), so this is just more evidence of Susana’s audacious design style. The texture of the crystal and its milky white host quartz is in stark contrast to the sleek marquise-shaped frame, studded with diamonds and tipped with softer rose cuts. To me, it has a cosmic quality, like it may have just fallen from the sky in the form of a comet.
The next chapter is Evolution Through Time, which has three pieces in total, each capturing the “essence of a 70-million-year journey” by utilising ammolite. This gem material is derived from the fossilised shells of an extinct group of marine molluscs known as ammonoids. Although these fossils are quite common, the rarest of their kind have a preserved shell that exhibits beautiful flashes of rainbow colours – the reasons for which are not wholly understood (experts believe it may have something to do with volcanic activity). Most of this colourful ammolite comes from a specific area in Southern Alberta, Canada, with ‘AAA’ grade material the most coveted for its vibrancy and variety of rainbow flashes. What is most impressive about Susana’s approach to using ammolite is the material combinations – ammolite, titanium, 18k gold, sapphires, rough citrines – that give pieces a fantastical, almost mythological vibe.
The Time 1 pin kicks off the story with a central piece of ammolite weighing 12.347 carats, flanked on one side by 16 round-cut orange sapphires and fringed with 11 round-cut blue sapphires in a marquise-shaped setting on the other. Blue titanium and warm 18k yellow gold complete the picture, although it is worth remembering how challenging it can be to use both materials in the same piece. The Time 2 torque is especially striking with two marquise-shaped slices of ammolite, rough citrine crystals (totalling 95 carats) encased in veins of blue titanium, blue sapphires and textured titanium (again, very hard to achieve), wrapped in a ribbon of yellow gold.
Finally, there’s the Time 3 earrings, which feature a mineral I don’t see very often – green quartz. From the front, these are slimline drop earrings, tipped with 14.09 carats of ammolite, wrapped in tsavorites, and set in green titanium and 18k gold. However, from the reverse, these earrings reveal chunks of green quartz of more than 57 carats, serving as both a counterbalance and a backdrop for the ammolite itself. Susana chose these green quartzes for the light they lend to her creation, but also for their ‘non-traditional’ character. “Emphasizing the beauty of pieces that fuse the refined elegance of flawless gems with the raw power of Earth’s natural beauty is my trademark,” she says. “I appreciate the original force and power of creation.”
Finally, there is my favourite chapter: Evolution Through Light. Personally, I think it is the combination of opaque, translucent, and transparent gems that capture my imagination, including Peruvian pink opal, Moroccan agate, and orange sapphires. There are four pieces here, all with the same lotus blossom shape. According to Susana, they represent “opacity, translucency and clarity in the soul’s journey,” while pink opal specifically links to awakening and alignment. She says: “There are many meanings to explore, so I seek stones that echo the artistic vision I wish to share.” The Light 1 brooch is the largest of the pieces, consisting of a 24-carat pear-shaped pink opal, a 6.94-carat agate with natural blooming inclusions, and more than 700 orange sapphires totalling 28 carats. All this is set in a three-dimensional floral frame of 18k yellow gold, in which individual petals are layered on top of one another. “I first bought the pink opals because they are very feminine, tender and soft. I was in a phase where I wanted to achieve that kind of softness, that energy, but it wasn’t until years later that I found their partner,” Susana explains. Kismet led her to this Moroccan agate, which was very lightly worked for the brooch and two pairs of earrings, Light 3 and Light 4. Finally, she paired them with “orange, the colour of joy, happiness, femininity, softness and powerful force,” in the form of fiery sapphires. The perfect combination.
Although all three chapters in A Trilogy of Evolution are different, Susana tells me she chose an abstract theme that’s open to interpretation, therefore allowing collectors and jewellery lovers to relate in whatever way speaks to them. Personally, I appreciate the idea of evolving into beauty, which can be seen in the ancient ammolite, the use of contemporary titanium, the mixture of materials, and the natural, rough and included forms. “It is also my own evolution in the craft of jewellery,” Susana says, which makes me wonder about all the incredible things she will present to the world in the future.
