” Thank you to Forbes Magazine for shining a spotlight on my team and all their work to make Cayen Collection a destination for jewelry lovers from around the globe. It is very rewarding to share my passion for jewelry and have that described so beautifully by Kyle Roderick and featured in one of the most prestigious publications in the world.”
Soraya Cayen
While connoisseurs know that jewelry design is divided into several distinct realms, others who also love jewelry may be unaware of the vital distinctions between fine jewelry and high luxury jewels. According to Soraya Cayen, owner and curator of the jewelry salon Cayen Collection in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, “High luxury jewelry is distinguished by innovative design vision, peerless materials, technical finesse and relative rarity. It’s most often made by heritage jewelry houses or independent designers and goldsmiths. “Because of its origin story, material excellence, artisanship and rarity,” Cayen continues, “high luxury jewelry is alive with the human touch and artistic values. It embodies an artistic attitude and distinctive vibe that is the opposite of what you find in mass-produced pieces marketed by global luxury companies.”
Cayen Collection in Carmel, CA. carries one-of-a-kind jewels by Los Angeles-based Victor Velyan, … [+] COURTESY CAYEN COLLECTION
Having developed a loyal clientele by searching out and showcasing jewels by independent designers, goldsmiths and family-owned heritage brands from around the world, Cayen has a flagship, street-facing boutique at Sixth and Mission in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and an annex a few doors down inside a courtyard. There, she sells yet another rarefied assortment of jewels in the midst of limited edition furniture and bejeweled home accessories: think amethyst-topped tables, lapis lazuli jewelry boxes and hard-stone chess sets.
It’s worth noting that Cayen also gains new clients through her Instagram gallery and through word of mouth. (She is internationally respected in the trade for successfully introducing foreign designers to the U.S. market.) According to London-based curator and e-tailer Valery Demure, owner of the high luxury jewelry online salon Objet d’Emotion, “Soraya Cayen is a cosmopolitan jewelry tastemaker. She carries a marvelous inventory of important designers. She and her staff impart knowledge and provide a level of caring customer service that is singular.”
Paris-based Lydia Courteille is one of the more adventurous high luxury jewelry designers carried by … [+]COURTESY CAYEN COLLECTION
This is doubtless why the New York-based Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA)has designated Cayen Collection as one of “Top Five Jewelry Stores in the United States.” Demure, who also curates jewelry exhibitions for physical and digital applied art and fine art fairs such as PAD, explains, “The future of design-driven, handmade and haute luxe jewelry belongs to those who can communicate its values, materials and merits to collectors and new customers whether in face-to-face conversation or in online presentations.” Cayen agrees. “Considering the impact that COVID-19 has had on the economy, we’ve been selling steadily via FaceTime, ZOOM and through socially distanced, in-person presentations.”