What you’ll learn in this episode:   How Melanie discovered that classic pearls could be seen in a new light. Why younger people, especially men, are embracing pearl jewelry in a new way.  How Melanie’s collaboration with Tasaki broke barriers for Japanese customers.  The difference between types of pearls, and what it’s like to work with them.  How launching her brand right after art school gave Melanie a crash course in the jewelry business.    About Melanie Georgacopoulos   With a background in sculpture, jewellery designer Melanie Georgacopoulos works with materials in new ways to release their potential and stimulate new interpretations. She began her exploration of the pearl during her Master’s degree at the RCA in 2007, after which she worked as a freelance designer under Antoine Sandoz for major international brands, before establishing her eponymous label in 2010.   In Melanie’s work the paradoxical, intriguing nature of pearls and mother of pearl is at the core of every piece, whilst the aesthetic remains simple, structured and timeless. She continually strives to challenge the existing preconceptions of these organic materials and that of traditional jewellery design itself. It is this unique approach which has given her the opportunity to showcase her pieces regularly at fairs, exhibitions and galleries worldwide.   Melanie became well known internationally for her work with pearls, leading to her collaboration with TASAKI, which began in 2013. Directional line M/G TASAKI was born, marring Melanie’s flair to cross design boundaries with the Japanese jewellery company’s world renowned craftsmanship. Following the huge success of the seasonal collections Melanie was appointed Head Designer for M/G TASAKI in 2015. She has been a visiting lecturer at Central Saint Martins for the last four years whilst she continues to create her own collections and one-off pieces for special projects.   Additional Resources: Website Instagram Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript: Melanie Georgacopoulos has done a few things to pearls that would make an old-school pearl lover gasp. She’s cut them, drilled them and combined them in taboo ways, but the result is elegant, modern jewelry for a new generation. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about her collaboration with Japanese pearl brand Tasaki; which types of pearls she loves to work with; and why she didn’t appreciate pearls until she saw what was inside. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week.    Today, we’re talking with Melanie Georgacopoulos. Melanie occupies some unusual niches. She’s a specialist in designing with pearls, which is very unusual. For those of you who are listening who think that pearls are too old-fashioned or too formal, she has really changed the way pearls are viewed. She lives in Hamburg but has her office in London. She’s also the Chief Designer for a collaboration with a Japanese company, Tasaki. We will hear all about her jewelry journey today. Melanie, welcome to the program.   Melanie: Thank you for inviting me, Sharon. I’m delighted to be here.   Sharon: Melanie and I went through a lot of iterations with the time, so I’m glad we did connect. Tell us about your jewelry journey and how you started working with pearls.    Melanie: I have to say I am very lucky, because I’ve known from quite a young age that I wanted to be creative, and more specifically that I wanted to work in the field of jewelry. I must have been around 12 or 13 years old when I started making things with my hands. I didn’t quite know what to do with them, so my brother suggested I use them as jewelry somehow. That gave me a purpose to create objects that related to the body somehow. By the time I finished school, I was 100% focused on the idea that I w