ARTIST'S SPOTLIGHT - isabella blanco
- eliane de luca peres
- Jul 9
- 2 min read
Isabella and I first connected last year, bonded initially by her stunning cameo rings and other incredible creations—like the charming tiny purses and perfume bottles she transforms into pendants. Her unique talent for breathing new life into vintage pieces is truly extraordinary. Isabella has an impeccable eye for statement jewelry, which immediately captured my attention.
Our conversations have gone beyond jewelry, touching on her frequent treasure-hunting trips across Europe, where she explores countless antique fairs. She has kindly invited me to visit her in Madrid—just a short trip from Toulouse! I’m hopeful I’ll be able to make that visit soon.
Her passion shines through in her work, her beautiful store (which I also look forward to visiting next time I’m back home in São Paulo, Brazil), and the thoughtful way she curates her collections. I’m delighted to share her story with you today.
Isabella Blanco is a Brazilian jewelry designer and splits her time between Madrid and São Paulo:
I like to define my work as a gathering of research, curiosity, and passion. My inspiration comes from nearly 40 years immersed in the world of art and antiques—as a journalist, scholar, and collector. From my treasure-hunting travels around the world, I bring back finds from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and 1950s eras—the periods that fascinate me most.
My creations are made for those who seek originality and already possess every kind of jewel.
For the past 16 years, I’ve been designing powerful pieces that go beyond “standard” norms, breaking away from the canons of traditional jewelry. My creations always begin with an antique item of artistic and historical value—authentic, rare pieces crafted by hand—and preferably, elements that are improbable, unexpected.
Antique perfume bottles turned into necklaces; cufflinks reborn as rings; belt buckles transformed into bracelets; and many other objects that have become trademarks of my work. To me, a classic can always be reinvented. It doesn’t need to remain stuck in the past. The cameo, for example—a traditional element in jewelry and one I use frequently in my collections—always appears through a contemporary lens.
Over the years, I’ve visited more than 40 countries, over 300 antique shops, dozens of antique fairs and auction houses across Europe, the United States, Africa, and Asia—many of which I visit regularly—always in search of new sources for treasure hunting and knowledge.
As Mário Quintana* once said, in what has become a kind of mantra for me: “I don’t have walls, I have horizons.”
*Mario Quintana was a Brazilian poet, writer, journalist, and prolific translator, also known
as the “poet of simple things”.
