Melika Etemadi — Nature Diamond Earrings

Melika Etemadi is an Iranian jewelry designer and educator who has earned international recognition for a string of award-winning projects. She trains and mentors students while designing for brands and competitions, and her profile shows a steady trajectory of competition wins and professional collaborations in contemporary jewelry.

Product focus — what *Nature* is

Nature (often presented as Nature Diamond Earrings) is a jewelry piece co-designed by Melika Etemadi and Javad Negin. The design interprets organic forms and natural rhythms into a wearable pair of diamond-set earrings that read as both delicate sculpture and meaningful ornament. The project was recognized by the A’ Design Award (Bronze Winner, 2020), an international validation of its concept, craftsmanship and presentation.

Why this piece matters — concept and cultural reading

Nature matters because it translates natural motifs into contemporary jewelry without relying on cliché illustration. Instead of literal leaves or flowers, the design abstracts motion, growth and pattern into a compact object that feels both fresh and timeless. For audiences who collect jewelry as narrative objects, Nature offers layered meaning: reference to the natural world, technical skill in micro-setting and an ability to transform a concept into something wearable and resonant.

Designer mindset — Etemadi’s approach to design

Melika’s design mindset blends storytelling, material sensitivity and didactic rigor. She treats jewelry as a platform for small-scale engineering and emotional storytelling: each formal decision must serve a tactile experience (how it feels on the ear), optical behavior (how diamonds and metal capture light) and an underlying narrative. Working with collaborators, she frames the brief around a clear problem — for Nature, how to express organic movement within the limits of earrings — and then develops rules that guide form, finish and setting.

From idea to object — the development process

The road from concept to finished Nature earrings follows a set of pragmatic stages common to high-end jewellery development:

Concept & sketching. The team explored movement studies and abstracted natural growth patterns into a small set of compositional rules (rhythm, repetition, focal diamond placement). Early sketches defined silhouette and scale relative to the ear.

Scale models & CAD. Tiny paper or clay maquettes helped judge 3D volume; CAD modelling translated sketches into precise geometry for stone settings and fit. Micro-clearances (how the post sits, how dangles swing) were calculated at this stage.

Prototyping (wax & print). Rapid prototyping — wax carving and/or high-resolution 3D prints — validated mechanical clearances for jump rings, hinge points and prongs. These prototypes made it possible to test movement and balance before committing to metal.

Metal master & setting trials. A master in precious metal was produced to test soldering, prong geometry and the micro-pavé or bezel work around stones. Stone setting trials ensured stability during motion and everyday wear.

Finishing & polishing. Surface treatments (polish, texture, selective mattes) were tuned to enhance diamond contrast and to control how the piece reads at arm’s length versus close inspection.

Wear testing & final adjustments. Designers and models wear-tested the pieces to check comfort, security and how the piece behaves in real movement (walking, turning the head). Final tweaks addressed weight distribution and ear-post geometry.

This development loop—iterate, test, refine—ensures the conceptual idea survives the technical realities of wearable jewelry.

Materials and craft — choices that define the piece

Nature uses classical jewelry materials (precious metal and diamonds) but applies them with contemporary thinking: stone cuts and placements are chosen to animate movement, metal gauges are tuned to balance lightness and strength, and finishing emphasizes contrast so the diamonds read bright against textured or polished fields. The careful micro-mechanics (pins, jump rings, tiny hinges) are executed to feel smooth and to last — not merely decorative but functional engineering at jewelry scale.

Wearability and ergonomics — designing for the body

Earrings must satisfy strict ergonomic constraints: low rotational torque on the lobe, minimal tangling risk, and secure stone mounting. Nature’s geometry is calibrated to distribute weight so the earring sits in the intended orientation; articulation points are tuned so movement is expressive but not pendulous in a way that leads to catching on clothing. These human-centred considerations distinguish well-designed jewelry from purely sculptural objects that are uncomfortable to wear.

A’ Design Award impact — credibility and reach

Winning a Bronze A’ Design Award amplified Nature’s visibility and validated the technical and narrative strengths of the project. Awards like A’ Design offer practical benefits beyond prestige: curated press exposure, inclusion in winner catalogues and easier conversations with galleries, boutiques and collectors who rely on third-party vetting when selecting emerging designers. For Melika (and her collaborators) the award functions as both recognition and a practical marketing accelerant.

Commercial positioning — who the piece is for

Nature appeals to collectors who value limited-edition, narrative jewelry; buyers who want pieces that work as both heirloom and statement; and boutiques that curate contemporary designers. Its combination of concept and craft lets it sit comfortably in gallery contexts as well as premium retail, where storytelling about process and material can justify a higher price point.

Business lessons from Nature — what designers can learn

Prototype early in the material space. Small-scale errors are cheap to fix before metal work.

Balance story with serviceability. Concepts must survive wear and repair.

Use awards strategically. Third-party recognition opens commercial doors, but it must be backed by production readiness.

Design for the body first. Ergonomics governs whether a beautiful object becomes a cherished wearable.

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