Luxuria Lifestyle interviews Almog of Mogga Jewels

From being a young girl growing up in Israel and sneaking into her grandma’s drawer to admire her gemstone jewellery, Almog knew the direction her life would take, and the creation of Mogga Jewels was her destiny. Here we delve deeper into exactly how Almog was inspired to take that incredible step of creating Mogga Jewels:

What does a typical day look like?

OK, so I wake up early, not by choice of course—my two little boys love to wake up early to start another day of adventures. After setting them up and dropping them each at their kindergartens, I head back home to drink my morning cappuccino and start to plan my day.

First, I go over the orders from last night with my team and set them up in the process.

Then, if I have no photo shoots that day, I go to my computer to start (or continue) designing and modelling new pieces.

In between, I talk to my stone dealers overseas to check the status on future orders I made and keep in touch with my manufacturing team to make sure all is in order and on schedule.

How do you see Mogga Jewels evolving?

I see my brand evolution as my own. I can’t tell exactly which ways it will go as I myself love to be dynamic and explore other ideas and fields. I will definitely keep doing what I love: designing and modelling fine jewellery.

Other than that, we’ll see.

What has been the single most important jewellery-making skill you have learned so far?

I would have to say the most important skill of all would be modelling the pieces. Only by having the tools, knowledge, and experience to model by myself has opened my mind to all the variety of opportunities that can be made in designing jewellery. Once you can model, you can check any idea to see if it’s working for you and get crazy trying things without thinking twice.

What are your favourite materials to design with and why?

When I was a child and a young girl, the day I decided to be a jewellery designer, I knew I would not be into classic designs or stones. I also love colours, so I would have to say my favourite materials are gemstones, and especially sapphires.

What inspires your creativity when designing a new piece of jewellery?

I get inspired by many things, mostly by beautiful places in the world and unique cultures.

I also take some ideas from the fashion and clothing fields, as I always believe jewellery must go hand in hand with clothes to make a perfect look.

Do you have a favourite piece of jewellery? Describe it to us.

It’s hard to decide since I love all my pieces as a mama loves her children. But if I have to choose one, I would go with the fine modern twist I made to my grandma’s kite diamond ring, which she gave me before she passed (and I accidentally lost in the Iguazu Falls). I took the idea of that ring and added my style by replacing the main classic diamond with a grey salt-and-pepper diamond. I used the same idea of design with hexagon sapphires afterwards.

I can say they are both my darlings, but for nana, I have to say my dearest is the kite one.

What is the greatest challenge for you as a designer?

I think I can admit that my biggest challenge as a designer is to keep inventing myself on a daily basis, see the future trends, and fit them to my idea of fine art and beautiful jewellery pieces. It gets harder as my other challenge is to grow my business and client audience. Sometimes I miss doing my art quietly without managing the whole business as an owner.

But I always believed I should do what I love and do it for myself and not for others, so I deal with all the challenges with a smile and big satisfaction for the results of my hard work.

What advice would you have for aspiring jewellery designers?

Don’t be afraid to try. Dare to be rare.

What role do you think social media plays in the jewellery business today?

Huge role, of course, as we all know. Those platforms give you the chance to express and expose yourself to anyone you wish to, in any place you desire.

For me, it was an even bigger deal since in my country almost no one uses gemstone rings for engagement (only classic white diamonds), so I knew from scratch I needed to find customers overseas—made possible only with social media. I don’t see how it can be done otherwise.

How do you want women to feel when they wear your creations?

I want them to feel colourful, unique, and proud. Mostly, I want them to be happy and feel it was made exactly and especially for them.

What was your biggest fear when starting out in business on your own?

Like anyone else who ever started a business, I think the biggest fear is to fail. Handling a business (as a young mum) is very hard work and takes a lot of time, effort, and determination. I knew from day one that it could fail from a lack of experience in managing a business.

But my worst fear was to fail because no one liked my designs.