THE FRENCH WAY:
NEJLA MATAM-FINN
The CEO and founder of The Fifth Collection has a list of dos and don’ts when it comes to jewellery. Pay attention
“It’s complicated,” says Nejla Matam-Finn when we ask about her French-ness.
But let us break it down for you. She was born in Paris. (So far so good.) But her family is from Algeria, where she was relocated at eight months old and spent the next eight years of her childhood. Then, between the ages of eight and 18, she went to boarding school in Switzerland. Et ensuite, coming full circle, she returned to Paris for seven years, where she would further her studies and work.
Voila! It’s not so bad.
What’s our point? Well, we are on a mission to get to the bottom of the eternal puzzle: How do French women do it? No matter how hard they don’t try, they always manage to look chic. Is this je ne sais quoi a birth right? Can we, maybe, perhaps, learn it and emulate it? Who knows. But we can certainly keep trying. Which is why we reached out to the CEO and founder of The Fifth Collection to pick her brain on the rules of wearing jewellery with a French attitude. What do we do? What do we never, never do? Read on for answers. You’re welcome!
DO:
- Mix and match. Don’t be afraid to layer real jewellery with costume jewellery, and contemporary pieces with vintage ones.
- Celebrate your personal milestones with jewellery. By all means make it as personal as possible. Splurge on a piece of jewellery for your birthday, a promotion, Christmas, the birth of your child, and wear them every day. Jewellery doesn’t only make for a great conversation starter, but more importantly, it will always remind you of something dear to your heart. In my case, I repurposed a pair of diamond earrings in the shape of the number “5” into a pendant. It was a gift to myself to celebrate the launch of The Fifth Collection.
- Build your own collection and, of course, edit, edit, edit.
- Invest in a few classic pieces that you will keep for a lifetime.
DON’T:
- Be boring and stick to just one type of gold, unless you really want to accentuate a particular look.
- Do a full-on set of jewellery with earrings, necklace, bracelet and rings. Decide on one main focal point and have fun with it. Having said that, if you are going for a “more is more” look, go for it, but keep the rest of your outfit simple unless you want to look like like a Christmas tree.
- Follow trends — make your own rules.
- Be in a rush to acquire key pieces for your collection — good things take time, so enjoy the process.
Images/Jewellery: The Canary Diamond Co