In our last patient spotlight, Addison Grozalis continued to highlight the musical talents of our patients. This November, we are shining a spotlight on Elena Nazarova who transforms gems into incredible works of beauty showcased by her jewelry designs.
Elena has always had a passion for aesthetic harmonious beauty. She enjoys history, architecture and its history, different cultures, photography, and drawing. This passion initially developed into a 25-year career as an architect in Russia. Throughout the years, she and her husband traveled to many different countries. During those trips, she was exposed to various cultures and heritages which left long-standing impressions on her. These inspirations influenced her own designs.
In early 2000, Elena came to the United States with a new interest in jewelry design. After giving one of her designs to a jeweler in the hopes of seeing her vision come to life, things took a dramatic turn. The jeweler not only ruined and changed her design, but took it to an exhibition in Paris at which he won a prize for the piece and appropriated the copyright. The outrage of having her work stolen right from under her was the impetus she needed to develop the skills to not only design, but to create her own jewelry. She spent over a year and a half learning 3D design certified programs for jewelers and in 2005 held the first piece of finished jewelry in her own hands.
With the help of her husband, she started her own small company as she attended jewelry exhibitions and also competed in campaigns such as Cartier and Tissot among many others. In 2009 at the National Jeweler of America Magazine exhibition in NY, she participated in a 3D design competition and was among the first ten new jewelry designers. From there she signed a contract with Paragon Lake Company, a company that allows “jewelers to create 3D models of custom jewelry as their customers describe it in real time, eliminating the crude sketches and time-consuming back-and-forth exchanges that are part of the process today.”
In 2018 her focus shifted yet again as she was needed to care for her families’ health. Currently, she only designs for herself, family, and friends. Through her designs she tries to convey not only the color of history, but also the modernity and the dynamics of movement in the jewelry. According to Elena, “What attracts the eye to her pieces is the play of sparkling stones that can be seen from a great distance.” She aims to “translate this emphasis on unusualness into a piece of jewelry.”
Elena was gracious enough to share numerous photos of her work with us. Team Lantzy has also had the pleasure of seeing some of her designs firsthand, and they are truly breathtaking.