assing in front of the Jaqueline Powers brand at the GemGenève fair last May, I was pulled up short by a remarkable necklace. Imagine a Celtic torc that had made a quantum leap into the twenty-first century. In bronze set with a brown diamond. When you take away everything but the essential, all that remains is a form of beauty.

Vince Gerardis is a respected name in the world of television; less well known in the world of jewellery. He is, among other things, the co-executive producer of Game of Thrones, which won three Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Drama Series category in 2015, 2016 and 2018, and House of the Dragon, winner of the 2023 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series. Yet gemstones have always been a part of his life. His grandfather was a diamond setter and he was himself a dealer, trading and importing diamonds.

Vince Gerardis, founder of the Jaqueline Powers jewellery brand and Game of Thrones co-executive producer, at the GemGenève fair in May 2024.

Vince Gerardis was first a collector of jewellery. A piece from his collection, a Victorian ruby and diamond brooch modelled as the Sacred Heart, sold in 2019 at Sotheby’s. Dating from the second half of the eighteenth century, it previously belonged to Dame Joan Evans, a British historian who specialised in medieval art and the history of jewellery.

His passion for fantasy literature, which he mentions numerous times during our conversation, could have led him to collect Victorian jewellery. Instead, he reveals that his latest acquisition is a ring by Suzanne Belperron. A remarkably pure design, much like the Jaqueline Powers collection he debuted in Geneva.

He works in collaboration with designer Corina Tahuil. “I finance the project, own it and am responsible for it. Corina heads our creative team and supervises our outside designers. She also helps with questions relating to infrastructure.”

The collection shown in Geneva makes the unusual choice of bronze as well as gold. Brown and grey diamonds explore amber shades and the familiar grey of a Geneva sky, when the sun doesn’t quite manage to break through the clouds. Vince Gerardis explains the thinking behind this: “This is our fall/winter 2024-25 collection. We thought the browns and greys suited Switzerland.”

As for the brand’s rather cryptic name, it’s that of the producer’s mother, pictured on the Jaqueline Powers Instagram. Read our interview, below.

Europa Star: Your first collection is mostly muted browns and greys. Why is that?

Vince Gerardis: The idea is to bring out two collections a year, like the twice-yearly couture shows. This is our first collection, for fall/winter 2024-25. We’ve chosen simple, subdued browns and greys which we thought went well with Switzerland, where we’re showing the collection for the first time. The brand is based in Miami and we plan to use brighter, bolder colours for next summer. We’re in no hurry. We’re not looking to become the world’s biggest jewellery brand. It’s about art, design, fashion and style.

There are more and more independent brands. What do you hope to bring?

It seemed like too many newly launched brands were straight away bringing out extravagant designs. I want to bring classic designs with a twist. I’ve used brown and grey diamonds for this collection. Do you see any other brown or grey diamonds here? No-one uses grey diamonds. Titanium and grey diamonds remind me of a Geneva day. They have a certain coolness, but they’re also extremely subtle and stylish. Brown diamonds are generally considered as less valuable. They’re given names like “chocolate” or “honey” to make them more saleable, but the majority aren’t that attractive, in my opinion. On the other hand, when a truly remarkable brown diamond comes along, you can create something that’s really fresh and unique.

You mentioned classic jewellery with a twist. Did you start out by defining a signature style for the brand?

To be honest, we didn’t know exactly where we were heading. We tried lots of different ideas when we were developing the first thirty pieces. We’d take the rings apart, remove the stones and start over until we could see a clear direction emerging. I think every jeweller who has art as an inspiration goes through different phases. You might work with black metal one year, carbon fibre the next, large gemstones the year after that, then white, and so on. Why wouldn’t you?

What made you choose bronze for certain pieces?

Gold has its importance but everyone’s familiar with it, which is why we wanted to try something different. Bronze changes colour over time. The more you wear it, the more it changes. If you’re not happy with the way a certain piece develops, you can bring it back and we’ll alter the colour for you.

Although there is gold on the inside of the mounts.

Yes, for two reasons. The first is subtlety. Only the person wearing the jewellery knows that it’s gold. The second is comfort. Gold feels softer against the skin.

A personal pleasure?

I never thought of it like that but yes, maybe. There’s no need to make a show of it.

Would you say this is an American brand?

I honestly don’t know how to answer that. I’m not exaggerating if I say that with Corina, the jewellers and others, we must have had this conversation at least 80 times. Is there one single way to describe who we are? No. We’ve created a ring inspired by Suzanne Belperron. We have designs that are very Latin-American and Spanish, which we aren’t showing in Geneva. It’s not just about geography. It’s also about mentality, timing and market positioning.

What are your hopes for the brand?

That it can finance itself and that people like it. I’d be happy if we sold four pieces a month. And if it grows, well so much the better! The jewellery sector, like any other sector, is terrifying if you have to turn a huge profit just to pay your bills. I don’t want to end up in that position. We hope our jewellery will generate sufficient revenue for the brand to go on existing.