Reinventing Royalty: The European-Inspired Luxury Behind Isabel Gemology 

I started 2025 with a series of articles titled ‘Jeweller of the Month’ to highlight the true talent among niche designers in the jewellery industry. For May, it is Isabel Delgado, the founder of Isabel Gemology, who I would like to shine the spotlight on. She blends European influences, Mexican heritage and American ambitions into her classic-with-a-twist jewels that are often embellished with collectable gemstones. 

Talking to Isabel, it's clear that her lineage is infused with jewellery, but more than that, she's adapted to different situations – from working on consignment to securing manufacturers and starting her own brand – with incredible optimism and confidence. I am particularly fascinated by her love of royalty, European nobility and the grand balls that would have been dripping with bejewelled finery in the 19th and early 20th centuries. To me, Isabel is both a businesswoman and a dreamer who reimagines the past through the lens of the present. 

Great-Grandmother’s Treasures

First Professional Jewellery Experience

So, the beginning of Isabel’s professional jewellery journey started with selling jewellery on consignment, which was successful but not always creatively fulfilling. “I was selling beautifully manufactured pieces to my network in Mexico, but the designs weren't always to my taste or matching my personal style”, she shares. Moreover, growing up surrounded by the best jewels in her family helped Isabel shape her taste for high-quality gems from an early age. Even without being formally trained at the start, she knew what top-colour emeralds would look like, but unlike herself, her Mexican clients were asking for designs with a pale green colour, which seemed to be highly marketed in Mexico. This made Isabel dream that one day, she would work with clients of the same refined taste.

Goodbye Mexico, Hello Switzerland

When the time came to move to Switzerland, Isabel discovered an entirely new world of jewellery, driven by a different culture and held to alternative standards in comparison to her home market. This inspired her to study gemmology, meet new manufacturers and suppliers, and explore the jewellery scene in London, Geneva and Basel in more detail. By 2020, Isabel was ready to take the leap and begin manufacturing her own jewellery in her own style and based on her own rules. This is when her brand, Isabel Gemology, more commonly referred to as just Isabel, was born. 

Imposter Syndrome

It is interesting that despite her present-day success, Isabel felt some imposter syndrome in the beginning as she began to transition from consignment to manufacturing. She tells me: "You have these customers who are relying on you. I was thinking, 'Why me? Why are they buying from me, I'm not that special?!'" However, as we all know, people buy from people. Being a jeweller is just as much about trust as it is about creativity, and clearly, Isabel inspires the confidence of her loyal clientele. Today, for example, she is making a custom-cut Burmese Pigeon's Blood ruby necklace for a special client, which is already more than six months in the making. 

Impeccable Quality Obsession

The ethos behind Isabel Gemology is all about impeccable quality. In fact, in the beginning, Isabel was hyper-focused on selecting the right manufacturers who could achieve the level of quality she desired. Her search led her to New York, where all Isabel's jewellery pieces are handcrafted today. Her signature style is classical but with a modern touch that can make pieces quite difficult to date at first glance. By that, I mean that some of her tennis-style necklaces could just as easily have been worn in the 1950s, the 1990s or today. There's a timeless quality about the brand that is part of its DNA. 

Current Jewellery Collections

She is also willing to go the extra mile when it comes to custom cutting and stone setting. A great example of this is the Stephanie collection, incorporating baguette-cut gems that are perfectly shaped to fit curved and articulated frameworks of gold that move like undulating snakes. "If you look closely at the Stephanie collection, you will notice the movement, which is something that not a lot of people appreciate unless they understand manufacturing," Isabel says. "It's not too flashy; it's classic and a quiet luxury but with plenty of technique."

Another collection that Isabel is particularly proud of is a series of initial pendants, each one featuring graduating sweeps of fancy-cut diamonds with just the right proportions and legibility. Settling upon the final design for each letter of the alphabet required some time-consuming back-and-forth with her manufacturing partners, who had to balance size, graduation, readability, and consistency (in diamond weight and precious metal), all the while achieving a nearly imperceptible framework of gold to hold the gems in place.

Part of the inspiration for this series of pendants is the short-lived Queen of England, Anne Boleyn, who was painted wearing a 'B' necklace in a posthumous portrait in 1550. This hints at Isabel's broader interest in royalty, aristocracy and nobility, which underpins the more formal and elevated approach she has to jewellery making. She's a dreamer, for sure, reimagining and reinterpreting old-fashioned ideas of royalty, grand balls, operas, and courtly finery into a contemporary palette. Some of her key obsessions are the House of Romanov, the British royal family, and Marie Antoinette, which all stem from a broader interest in European culture, art, music, society and architecture. She says: "You go to Europe and there is so much art everywhere. Like in Rome, everywhere you look, there is beauty." 

Jewellery for 21st-century Royals

Many Isabel Gemology customers lean towards this European sensibility, with a passion for art, wine, music, theatre, and travel that goes beyond the borders of where they live. Isabel is targeting these people, most of whom are after her own heart. "I guess in my mind, I live in a land that doesn't exist," she says, "but I am happy living in that land!"

Looking to the future, Isabel is now based in Dallas, Texas, and is hoping to expand Isabel Gemology into retail with its own standalone store. She also has some interesting partnerships on the horizon, including one with Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle empire, Goop, which is an exciting avenue for the brand. My sense is that Isabel, both the woman and the brand, is only just getting started. Its blend of heritage values, timeless design and a global outlook is a recipe for jewels that everyone aspires to own. Personally, I am eyeing a beautiful emerald necklace, although I may need to discover a long-lost European princess in my family tree in order to acquire it!