"In everything that is not no fancy sandwich and wrap…and nothing is more capricious than the art "Interview with Laura Ponte

Beans & Lemerald is a jewelry firm inspired by the architecture created by the model Laura Ponte and the businessman Luis Feliú.

Today we are going to know one of the most interesting facets of Laura Ponte, she is not only pretty, inteligente, interesting and stylish, but also creative. Y no, I am not referring to the great outfits to which we are accustomed, but today I speak with her as a designer and creative soul of the Luby brand & Lemerald.

Beans & Lemerald not a brand of dutch biscuits, but it is a jewelry firm based on the inspiration of architecture. When I met the brand I was struck by the incredible design and I started to ask almost blindly, even without knowing who was behind. Laura responded immediately and explained that she was the creative director. Yo, with fan moment included in the email, I asked him to tell me first hand.

"One should not pervert his style to sell more,  It will never work." Laura Ponte, Creative Director of Luby & Lemerald

The interview reveals a Laura Ponte businesswoman, with a very interesting view on jewelry and quality and above all, a firm that is beginning to stand out in the most demanding and select markets in the world. (Colette, the emblematic Parisian store had ordered some of his pieces, that are already present in jewelry stores in Madrid, Barcelona, Santander u Oviedo, entre otros).

– ¿what do i know «seems more» high jewelry: to art or whim?

everyone who chooses. As in everything that is not a sandwich and a coat, there is a whim…. and there is nothing more whimsical than art…

– In this case we are talking about a complement or a piece with value in itself…

Vale… because it costs, it's not free, and will always be a complement.

– ¿You can make people react through a jewel?

¿And why not? Sometimes for the care with which it is made, others by like-dislike, others for the nonsense of the price for something that does not feed us (maybe to the ego yes)…and many for the reason why it is worn.

– ¿How the idea of ​​Luby was born & Lemerald?

Luis hired me a few years ago as Girard's image- Perregaux, a Swiss Haute Horlogerie brand, he was the director of the brand. They sponsored the BMW_ORACLE and wanted to take advantage of Copa América to give the firm a boost. He had 25 años… increíble… I confessed that I liked watches but I didn't use them; That for me, If I had to choose an accessory, it was jewelry…  Luis had been working in a diamond company - what they call an expertise - he knew the sector and the stones, so he didn't hesitate to tell me that we could do something together. Time passed and two and a half years ago we decided to start this company. We had more time to organize ourselves and take this vocation seriously, dream or whatever you want to call it.

Luby is Luis; comes from ruby-red, fighter; manager and commercial. Lemerald is me. Emerald, another point, the creative part, more relaxed, which does not mean lazy. It was a spontaneous nod to the jewelry and our initials but it ended up staying as the name of the brand…

I don't know if it is the most commercial... but I was amused that it led to confusion with the origin of the product and its content… could be a brand of scotch biscuits…  And so we begin, hands and hands, he in Barcelona and I in Madrid, but together from factory to factory or whatever. Two years of hard work
but a lot of illusion to defend it with cape and sword.

– ¿How two minds combine, business and creativity, in such a process?

Luis is the management…expense control, strategy, the one that puts a little order and luckily. It is
ambitious in a good way and a great fighter… gives me the batteries…and has been the person able to give me the security to start designing. I lead the creative direction of the brand: I design the jewels, el packaging, the web, and I defend my designs to the death with Luis. we are our bosses, and in both creative and managerial decisions, we always take addresses together. It is a society to 50%.

– Since creativity and business have come together, ahora… ¿How to mix terms as remote as architecture and jewelry?

¿estranged? They go hand in hand! Every jewel is a small sculpture, whatever it is, it is three-dimensional and caters to the whim of sight and taste.

– The Tube, the first collection a tribute to the cylinder ¿Why was that shape chosen??

Because I had nothing like. I make the jewelry thinking of myself and one is all that has lived, of what has been soaked. It is true that I like to play with the volumes, the disproportion, lo conceptual, dismember…  I guess at that time in my life I was like this, or was it what i needed, some strength. That's why some see my pieces somewhat aggressive.

– ¿How important is the choice of a stone or a material in each case?

I love the metal but the price of gold is through the roof, although I love gold in everything… clothes, furniture, I like what shines…gives a lot of light. and then the stones, usually the least expensive, except diamond. I get lost every time I go to the lapidary. When creating one, you should stay away from color trends, starting because I have always believed that trend is market strategy.

– Explain to us that they can «melt and redesign»….
it's metal – has a value in itself – if you get tired you melt it down and mount a cross of the Santina de Covadonga, it is recyclable, ¿Why keep something in the closet that you are not going to wear if you can transform it?

– Luby's concept & Lemerald is a «everything is one«: Tell us about the packaging and its brand essence (I ask this because the presentation of the jewels, for example the boxes in which they come, It's amazing and I'm passionate about packaging!)
I like to always see a common thread in each collection. That each derivation (cash register, Press release, etc.) remind you of the style of the pieces. It is an aesthetic mania but with a commercial vision. Move the brand to any corner, in a subtle way, but do it.

– Could you tell us something about the next collection?…

It's more organic. Submarine life… There are many common elements with the previous, acabados, proportions; but different. ¿What do tubes have to do with crabs??. It's a lot of responsibility. With the first you do not expect anything, with the second it is time to work on the created identity and that is not easy with these times, the crisis. Even so, one should not pervert their style to sell more, it will never work.