Meet the Founder
Claudia Graf Stilfried is the founder and designer behind Claudia Jaffe Jewelry.
From a very young age Claudia was fascinated to the world of jewelry and gems. Just as she finished high school, she began her training in one of the best academies in Florence, the cradle of the Goldsmith in Italy at: Le Arti Orafe.
Followed by internships with outstanding tutors: in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: with Billy King at the Instituto Allende and then in Caracas, Venezuela with Ramón Llatche, one the best jewelers of all times in the country.
From her training stage, Claudia enthusiastically remembers these periods of incredible creativity, and their environments had a huge influence too. The times of making sculptures and casting in bronze in the soil directly (with holes in the ground) or in other situations soldering with white gasoline and tools that
have long long time been forbidden due to their danger… even the opportunity to work in ateliers with handmade tools over 100 years old.
Claudia then went back academic, deciding to study in depth the world of gems and did therefore the certification at the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) becoming a Graduate Gemologist (GG) and Jewelry Designer.
At the end of her studies in California, she decides to go back to Europe for work.
She began working in London's Bond Street for some of the most important jewelry firms, (Cartier and Chanel Fine Jewellery among others) but her free spirit and her adventurous nature led her to start with her own jewelry career soon after.
Since then, she has had a so-called nomadic life she has lived in places such as: France, Italy, Mexico, USA, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Italy and India among others never forgetting her homeland that has the greatest source of inspiration to her of them all: Venezuela.
In addition to jewelry Claudia has two other passions: to travel and yoga. She has managed to combine her three passions in Claudia Jaffe Jewelry.
For her designs, nature is her source of inspiration and this variety is captured in the jewels from the different corners of the world. Each trip is a new inspiration, new shapes, and sometimes new materials ...
Yoga and meditation give Claudia the calmness needed to reflect on each piece, consciously think about each detail, how it can be improved even more ... and soon to achieve the exquisite.
With lots of effort and work, Claudia, has turned her passion for jewelry and design in a life project. Nowadays, there is nothing that can cause more satisfaction and joy than to see women around the globe wearing her pieces.
Of course, she always remembers all the relatives and friends that have supported her along the way, making her dream come true.
"There is no bigger honor to me than to see our jewelry have become part of your lives"