Blending creativity with sustainability, the company offers sparkling pieces handcrafted from vintage glass beads from Paris
Like many of the greatest love stories of all time, the tale of how Swiss jewellery brand Aglagla came to be begins with a perfect match.
“Five years ago, it was really a side operation,” says Lyla Marsol, the creative brains behind the brand, who produces one-of-a-kind bracelets, necklaces and earrings in her Geneva atelier out of vintage glass beads sourced from Paris. “I’m a painter, an artist, and I started [designing jewellery] on the side. I did it alone for two and a half, three years and realised it was not going anywhere. At some point I was like, either I stop or partner up with the right person.”
The right person turned out to be under Marsol’s nose the whole time. “I had been following Anouck [Mutsaerts, stylist and creative director] for some time and [knew] she was the right one,” she says. “Since we came together it completely changed everything.”
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Aglagla is a Swiss jewellery brand. Photo: Handout
Though still a small business in all respects, Aglagla has a quickly growing fan base, its quirky, dynamic pieces bearing all the hallmarks of works of art. You can spot an Aglagla piece from a mile away, each creation handcrafted out of a combination or pattern of glimmering glass beads. Marsol, who says she and her now business partner complement each other in all the right ways, takes a similar approach to sourcing the materials for her pieces.
After months and months of searching for the right places, “I ended up finding them through a friend who was head of jewellery at Celine,” she remembers. “These are very precious in Paris. You have a little old lady in a flea market who hides the really nice beads. You don’t see them, you have to go dig for them. And other really old shops that have existed for five generations.”
An Aglagla piece is handcrafted from a combination of glittering glass beads. Photo: Handout
What follows, says Marsol, is the fun part. The design process, which she likens to “making little recipes until the combination works,” is what ultimately makes every Aglagla piece incredibly special. “Years of painting and working with colour, it’s just something in the system. The set-up is basically like having a painting palette. I usually have a plate, put [beads] in there and see if something’s happening or not.”
Mutsaerts agrees. “Lyla’s imagination is endless,” she adds. “When we met, the brand was really about one-of-a-kind creations – she was mostly making one-offs, mixing vintage beads and crystals with more contemporary beads. But it was only one necklace available, and then it’s gone. What we brainstormed were small permanent collections.” Beyond limited edition pieces, Aglagla has since expanded to include signature collections like the Grape family of jewellery, available in several dynamic colours. As the name suggests, each piece looks like clusters of grapes on a vine.
Aglagla has drawn in fans from all over. Photo: Handout
