Mediterranean waters glimmer within each facet of Mare Azzurro, LeVian’s latest jewelry masterpiece. With stones in Sea Blue Aquamarine, Blueberry Tanzanite and Deep Sea Blue Topaz, the collection reflects the ocean’s varied spectrum of blue. Translating to “blue sea” in Italian, Mare Azzurro’s homage to the sea turns the wearer into “all things water”: infinite mystery like the sea’s deepest depths, shimmering exoticism like Capri’s turquoise Blue Grotto and elegant tranquility like the pale seafoam that caresses Sorrentino shores. A deep gaze into the sparkling diamonds in this collection reveals the evolving shades of water found around the Mediterranean’s remote beaches of La Calanque, the initial inspiration of the collection.
Showcased on location among the jagged rocks and teal waves of La Calanque, the collection marked the first time in ten years that a luxury company brought its campaign to remote shores. At the top of a cliff before sunrise, the logistics of the shoot turned the face of Mare Azzurro into a bold undertaking, something that the pendants, rings and earrings themselves envisioned from the start.
Mare Azzurro embodies a manifesto that tells a distinct story.
“A parallel was drawn between the magnetic characteristics that draw us to the water and the characteristics that draw us to a beautiful woman,” explained Eddie LeVian, CEO and designer at LeVian. In LeVian’s own words, the collection conjures an image of “the captivating woman, the beautiful siren, who comes out of the water like a mermaid and hypnotizes you like the beautiful water that we yearn for when we want to escape our everyday lives.”
People, like mermaids, are drawn to the sea as if called by the siren’s song itself. The first thing we think of when it’s time to get away is a seafront world; in no place is the sea’s exotic peace more brilliantly reflected than in the Mediterranean, from which the collection derives its very heart and soul.
“We set out to create an artistic expression of ‘She is All Things Water’ by combining different shapes, cuts and colors of four different blue gems in a tapestry that mimics the changing blue hues as the sun moves through the day,” explained LeVian. “It took a painstaking process of doing many layouts of gems until we were able to find the combinations and patterns that worked together to create that effect.”
Like Venus emerging from the seafoam, the collection was born within a year alongside a partnership with Jared. The world’s largest seller of Tanzanite, LeVian uses this unique gem for its exclusive Trillion cut, which is at the core of Mare Azzurro’s reflective nature and allows this tri-chroic gem to change color depending on the light’s angle. Light-dependant color defines the sea’s changing hues and, for the first time beyond water, defines Mare Azzurro, as well.
A notable item is the Le Vian Pendant. This necklace twinkles with carats of Blue Topaz, Deep Sea Blue Topaz, Blueberry Tanzanite, Blueberry Zircon and Nude Diamonds set in Vanilla Gold. When draped around the wearer’s neck, this piece undulates and shimmers like the sea’s rolling blues, crystal and aquatic.
While Mare Azzurro marks a new, tidal horizon, it also features elements that mark it distinctly LeVian. “This is the first major non-chocolate diamond collection of LeVian outside of the LeVian High Jewelry Collection,” said LeVian. All Jared doors open with this collection and is the face of the company’s first TV commercial after the pandemic. Notably, the collection is also the first time LeVian launched a campaign and TV commercial in 25 years that did not involve its signature Chocolate Diamonds.
Cutting a variety of blue gem combinations, while ensuring that the different shades blend, not clash, required meticulous craftsmanship. Specific intention flashes in each piece; LeVian wanted the collection to be so captivating that the moment it is worn, the wearer is “transported to a sandy beach surrounded by the blue sea and sky that you have been yearning for.”
Mare Azzurro is more than newness washed to shore by the ebb and flow of sea waves. For LeVian, it tells a story of tranquility and sensuality that can’t be matched by traditional jewelry collections based on sophistication alone. Mare Azzurro reminds the wearer of the marine landscapes surrounding us, its ever-evolving spectrums and that, through LeVian, she is all things water.
