Luxury Indian Ocean LUXURY INDIAN OCEAN #7 EDITION 2018 | Page 132

© Anaïs Dercy
The proof of the Mavros’ love of jewellery can be seen in their new
Atelier at the Beau Plan Creative Park, the most impressive space
imaginable. The 160-year-old stone building, once the sugar estate’s
foundry, has been beautifully renovated. The Atelier is modelled after
their Zimbabwean studio, where Patrick senior greets his guests. “The
first thing he does is take you to the workshops”, explains Kate. “With
the Atelier we’ve created an interactive shopping experience where
people can see behind the scenes and engage with us”.
Inside the Patrick Mavros Atelier is the design room, filled with
artefacts collected over the years ‒ stones, fossilised shells, the skeleton
of a dodo bird. I ask Kate about a favourite stone. “We have a piece of
agate, a naturally-occurring stone from Arizona, christened the starry
night. It literally looks like the desert landscape with mountains and
comets going through the night sky”. The stone-cutter almost didn’t
want them to buy it. “It looks like a painting, so Forbes designed a
beautiful little box with that stone as the lid”, adds Kate.
Inside the atelier, craftsmen are absorbed in their work: sculpting,
silversmithing, stone-setting, and lost-wax casting - a technique that
dates to the 5 th millennium BC and requires a great deal of skill. Kate
picks up a blue wax mould in the shape of a palm. It forms part of
a chandelier she is making. “The jewellery industry is historically
secretive and for a long time we’ve disagreed with the idea that the
process should be a closed-door affair”, notes Forbes. “For us artists and
jewellery-makers, the process is as beautiful as the pieces themselves.
The life and soul of these pieces are born in the making of them”.
Enclosed in glass cabinets is some of the most beautiful jewellery I have
ever seen. Two immense tree trunks, part of Patrick senior’s collection,
have been made into tables on which are set intricate silver candelabra.
“One of our most recent pieces is the Hawksbill sea turtle and Staghorn
coral candelabra ‒ the first Patrick Mavros sea-inspired candelabra.
That was very much close to our hearts, living in Poste Lafayette and
seeing the sea turtles near the reef... It’s a piece we’re really proud of, and
I feel it connects to the island and its wildlife”, observes Kate.
I am curious about the use of silver. “It’s a family business that started
out in Zimbabwe where silver is mined. That’s just the legacy of its
origins”, explains Forbes. “A wonderful discovery has been green
turquoise from Iran, also known as Persian turquoise. The copper in
the ground has, over millions of years, influenced the colour of this
uncommon green turquoise”.
Inside the Atelier is the original stonework and crane system that
transported equipment from the mill to the foundry. “Forbes salvaged
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the lids of the old furnaces”, says Kate. “They were buried under three
feet of earth when we excavated. It was fun, like an archaeological
dig”, recounts Forbes excitedly. “There was quite a remarkable feat of
engineering in the redesign of an existing canal to form a waterfall
that flows from almost 16 kilometres away, at La Nicolière reservoir.
The canal is as old as the estate. It’s amazing to think that it still serves
a function today - to cool the Grays distillery. We were not allowed
to decrease the flow so we had to divert it, build the waterfall, then
reconnect it”.
The renovation of the historic stone building, a collaboration between
Patrick Mavros, Terra, and renowned architect Salim Currimjee was
synergetic. “We shared the same values since the beginning, namely
that of preserving the building as it was”, says Kate.
“We are this small, family-run business with a flagship store in
London, one in Harare and one in Nairobi… Each, in their own
right, is beautifully located and interestingly designed. When you walk
inside, you are transported to this world we’ve created. We wanted our
Mauritius operation to have its own story and identity”, she explains as
she twirls a rose gold ‘elephant hair style’ bangle around her wrist, her
wedding gift from Forbes.
“We want this brand to feel Mauritian-owned. There are masterpieces
being produced in our Mauritian atelier that are gracing the tables of
state dinners. We want Mauritians to feel proud”, notes Forbes.
For the Mavros family, jewellery is a way of life. As the interview comes
to an end, I ask Azaan, their 4-year-old daughter if she intends to pursue
jewellery-making one day too. She fumbles through a drawer and pulls
out a box filled with beads: “I’m already a jewellery designer”.