They were panthers, a stunning white gold pair studded with tiny diamonds, their miniature paws clinging to their owner’s earlobes.

 

Apart from the slim metal watch on her wrist, these were the only Carrera y Carrera pieces the diminutive wife of Spanish master jeweler Manuel Carrera wore to the lunch Tuesday, where Rustan’s was reintroducing the brand to select media.

 

The amiable Marina Cordon tried to explain why this is so in rapid Spanish, which in this writer’s limited understanding of the language, seemed to mean her husband didn’t give her a lot of jewelry, as she motioned to him with a laugh and a shake of the head.

 

It was her first visit to the country, she said, but her husband has been coming here in the last 20 years, where Carrera y Carrera was sold previously, also at Rustan’s.

 

When I clarified the part about her personal jewelry collection with her husband, the portly man replied with a hearty laugh. “That’s not true at all,” Carrera said through his interpreter. “In fact, there has been a documentary on my life recently, from age 18 to the present, and the pieces they showed, they were all from her collection.”

 

Carrera y Carrera’s head of international communications, Cristina Moya Carraffa, agreed. “You can do an exhibit of her own collection,” she said, confirming Carrera’s affection for his wife.

 

Spirit of innovation

 

The septuagenarian Carrera is a renowned and respected jeweler, trained in the craft since age 14. He comes from a line of precious-stone cutters. He’s not, however, just a goldsmith, but a man who dared to break rules and carve his own path in Spanish jewelry-making.

 

“I started as an apprentice in a big jewelry workshop where you no longer found creative geniuses and they just made run-of-the-mill jewelry, attending to the basic markets. I found that it wasn’t getting anywhere,” he said.

 

“You have to remember that this was just after the war—the Spanish Civil War and World War II—and the country was in ruins,” he explained. “This wasn’t a time rife for creativity. But it was also a craft that I felt could really unleash my artistic talents. That’s where the spirit of Carrera y Carrera comes: to innovate, to initiate change and to make things differently.”

 

He set out on his own at age 22.

 

At a time when Spanish jewelry-making was dominated by 1950s classicism, Carrera broke away from “outdated and tasteless” styles and began experimenting with jewel sculptures, a

look that’s still evident in the brand today. He began with mythological and symbolic animal and human forms, predominantly in yellow gold with precious stones, in the 1970s, and they still surface in seasonal collections today.

 

Carrera y Carrera has come a long way from its first appearance in the Basel fair, where the founder recalled being allotted a tiny 4×4 booth. The company came away from that experience with a yearlong list of orders. Now it’s in 50 countries, and continues to grow.

 

Eighty percent of the jewelry are now sold overseas, with Eastern Europe getting the biggest chunk, according to Vadim Bogdan, the brand’s sales director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. It’s set to open 10 stores in China in the coming months.

 

“The growth is in Asia, definitely,” he said.

 

For fashion

 

Bogdan added that while market tastes may differ, one thing is common: The Carrera y Carrera customer buys for fashion, not so much for investment.

 

“They see that our jewelry is beautiful, they see them on the red carpet on the celebrities, so of course, they buy for fashion.”

 

Going global, said Carrera, “made me mature from a rebellious man at a very rapid pace.”

 

Carrera Y Carrera is quite artisanal, and because of that, it’s not at the mercy of volume production, stressed its founder. Everything is crafted in Madrid by jewelers trained under Carrera himself.

 

“I remember many who came to apprentice with me at the age of 16 and they’re still working in the company, and they’re happy with what they’re doing,” he said. “I’ve mentored some in

my family who want to follow in my footsteps but it’s a very complex and difficult thing that we do. Remember that we do things in the way that’s not usually done, and you cannot teach that.”

 

The core of the Carrera y Carrera collection is priced from 7,500 to 25,000 euros (from P175,000 to millions, according to Rustan’s), but it has entry-level pieces that range from 1,500 to 2,500 euros.

 

There are limited pieces priced upward of 45,000 euros, like a sculpted yellow gold dragon bracelet with diamonds presented at the launch. The collection is available exclusively at Rustan’s Silver Vault in Makati.

 

Golden age

 

Famous people who have been seen in Carrera Y Carrera include Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Joan Rivers, Demi Moore, Salma Hayek, Paris Hilton. Its face for the last three seasons has been the socialite Olivia Palermo.

 

“They’re not just people we lend our jewelry to,” Carraffa noted. “They’re also our customers. Jennifer Lopez bought a tiger ring from us, for example.”

 

For its return to Manila, Carrera y Carrera brings its “Tesoros del Imperio” collection, inspired by the Spanish Golden Age, details of which come from masterpieces from Museo del Prado.

 

There’s the Reina line—rings, earrings and pendants that are reminiscent of crowns. The luxurious Cervantes line recalls the serpentine lines of lace cuffs and neck ruffs (ruffles) of clothing, and comes in yellow and white gold, some with diamonds.

 

Inspired by the Sevillian royal portraitist, the Velazquez line features patterns and embroidery of the era, carved onto the surface of rings and earrings. The romantic Isabel line is created

for the bride, with diamonds as the focus of the designs.

 

Carrera continues to churn out collections for the brand even as he no longer runs the company. When asked if he’s considering retirement, he replied quickly in the negative.

 

“I must add, we are building a school, to ensure that should I retire, Carrera y Carrera will survive in the same style and character.”

 

He added, “I’m very happy with where the company is. There are bittersweet moments… What’s important with a company is that it leaves a mark. But it has to be intelligent enough to let new blood come in. It’s important to keep a soul that will be recognized, but new blood should come in with savvy, and we have that.”