Julia's Story
Julia Pharo was born and raised in the Transvaal – the heart of South Africa’s gold, platinum and diamond mining community.
As a little girl, her young fingers were constantly stained by the brick red earth of her grandfather’s diamond mine where she played, searching through the rich soil dreaming of finding her own precious gemstone.
Growing up, her passion for gemstones evolved into designing jewellery for the remarkable diamonds her family were mining – beginning a lifelong love affair with fine jewellery.
Pursuing her dream to become a master jeweller, Julia travelled to the United Kingdom to study fine jewellery design and traditional bench skills at Holts Academy, widely regarded as London’s leading jewellery school.
Having studied gemmology at The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, Julia is also a Certified Gemmologist (Cert. Gem-A).
Her passion for diamonds and coloured gems also led her to pursue further training at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and Julia is a proud Member of the GIA Alumni Association.
Following the death of her grandfather, Julia’s uncle and cousins continued diamond mining in South Africa and neighbouring Botswana, a family profession that continues to this day.
The proudest moment in Julia’s life came when her grandmother presented her late husband’s diamond scale to Julia - entrusting this essential field tool to the next generation of gemstone hunters.
Julia’s diamond, coloured gemstone and pearl designs soon attracted attention from her rapidly growing loyal clientele and the press, with British Vogue heralding Julia as “an exciting young designer with a passion for pearls” in the November 2012 edition of the magazine.
Created with uncompromising attention to detail using the finest ethically sourced gemstones and precious metals, each design is a unique blend of modern CAD techniques and traditional handcrafted bench skills.
Julia mastered her skills as a fine jeweller in Hatton Garden - the heart of London’s jewellery district – working at the bench to create remarkable one-of-a-kind fine jewellery pieces.
Today, Julia divides her time between making pieces for her ready-to-wear jewellery collections and creating the most stunning bespoke jewellery commissions for her many loyal friends and clients around the world.
