Business
6 rising Parisian independent jewellery brands to watch: how Mira Stella, Lucas Bauer, Viltier, Statement, Gemmyo and Maison Avani are all making a name for themselves

Published
4 months agoon
By
Ekwutos Blog
Paris’ Place VendOme is home to many historic maisons, but across the city, entrepreneurial independent jewellers are springing up to offer fresh visions
Paris’ Place VendOme may be the home of high jewellery, but this rarefied world is only the glittering tip of the city’s iceberg of gem-filled creativity.
Under the waterline, a new generation of independent labels is rising, ready to bring their colour-filled designs, and inspirations that range from the natural world to art movements like art deco or Brutalism, into the light.
Here are six names who are setting the pace in Paris’ independent jewellery scene.
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1. Mira Stella

Designs inspired by nature at Mira Stella. Photo: Handout
The soil around Sophie Bouilhet-Dumas’ family home in Normandy is fertile indeed. Not only does it support verdant countryside, but it also sprouted Mira Stella, a fine jewellery brand named after the founder’s mother and grandmother.
Where others might have seen ephemeral beauty in nature, she saw treasures that transcended the ages. And since Bouilhet-Dumas is also a scion of the family that founded silversmith Christofle, it felt natural to reproduce the likes of hydrangea petals, sea kale seeds and flax pods in 18k gold.
Oak bark, chicory petals and heart-shaped quaking grass, a plant in the same family as wheat and rice, have since joined Mira Stella’s repertoire. Snippets of botanical information accompany each piece on the website, but if you are in the area, make sure to visit the brand’s boutique, a delightful ray of pink, warm light tucked away in the picturesque streets of Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-Pres.
2. Lucas Bauer

Lucas Bauer earring. Photo: Handout
Nature also influences the work of Lucas Bauer. Not surprisingly, considering he credits a parrotfish encountered while diving as changing the course of his career after nine years spent designing jewellery and accessories in the women’s fashion studio of Louis Vuitton.
This graduate of the famed ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne learned jewellery design on the job, aided by the idea that the precision and planning of patternmaking could be applied to his new medium.
For his eponymous label, Bauer’s inspirations are now found in deeper places: underground in mycelium, the fungal network that permeates our soil; or below the waves for algae. These tie into his idea that all things are connected and united, ourselves included, which is why his jewellery curls around the body organically.
Bauer made his Paris Fashion Week debut with a range that included fine jewellery designs made from recycled gold and stones sourced from existing stock.
3. Viltier

Viltier ring. Photo: Handout
Iris de La VillardiEre and Thomas Montier Leboucher were childhood friends who lost touch, eventually reconnecting over Instagram. Their catch-up conversations uncovered complementary skill sets and experiences in the jewellery world and from there sprang Viltier, a name composed of the first syllables of their last names.
Their first collection, featuring two U shapes connecting with diamonds to form a graphic oval, was a hit thanks to a retro-infused shape with fluted edges ideally realised with hard stone inlays.
Soft curves and plenty of sparkle are distinguishing features of Viltier designs, from the Clique RiviEre necklace and its dancing line of diamonds, to New Edge’s numerous takes on ways to add diamonds to a deceptively simple form.
When in Paris, don’t miss their Rue de Verneuil showroom, an impeccably decorated lounge filled with art and striking furniture in the Carre des Antiquaires area of the Left Bank.
4. Statement

A stand-out necklace from Statement. Photo: Handout
An entrepreneur to the core, Amelie Huynh left not one but two promising careers – one on Place VendOme with Chaumet and the other in advertising – to strike out on her own and launch jewellery brand Statement.
She uses diamond-set silver as her signature, a favoured combination for 19th century French jewellers. The metal’s symbolic association with femininity and the moon also struck a chord.
Art deco geometries, a flair for Brutalist architecture and Huynh’s own taste for voluminous pieces inform her work, which is all about making a personal statement – using jewels as a way to mark milestones, moments and memories.
More recently, she has added 18k gold to her palette and added styles with pearls, giving her striking designs a softer spin.
5. Gemmyo

The delicate geometry of Gemmyo. Photo: Handout
Regular visitors to Paris may remember adverts peppered around the city depicting a fluffy pink kitten. The images are entirely a product of Photoshop, Gemmyo founder Pauline Laigneau assures us, but that bold symbol has achieved its aim of putting her label on people’s lips.
In the years since its launch in 2011, Gemmyo’s delicate designs and smartly priced jewellery have done the rest. Among highlights are the stackable Art Deco line, the colourful Gemmyorama with drop-shaped stones, and the recently launched Entaille, with its minimal gold carving that gives a more unisex vibe.
Most recently, the brand debuted a limited-edition range featuring Umba sapphires, rare gems found in Tanzania and naturally polished by the waters of the river that gives them their name. Coming in a palette of warm tones that range from blushing pink to sunset orange, they became the sold-out stars of designs available exclusively at Gemmyo’s Paris boutiques.
6. Maison Avani

A symphony of sapphires: earrings from Maison Avani. Photo: Handout
Any jewellery aficionado turns into a kid in a candy shop when faced with trays of delicately pink/orange Padparadscha sapphires, but even siblings Milan and Thilan Ponweera, whose family supplies such stones from Sri Lanka to top jewellery houses, couldn’t resist the draw of the vibrant pink of Mahenge spinels.
Named for the Sanskrit word for “earth”, the brothers’ Maison Avani pays homage to such vivid gemstones in high-end designs offered in a bijou store on Place du Marche Saint-Honore in Paris.
While the painterly designs of creative director Milan are a great place to start, custom designs are also a tempting avenue offered by the Ponweera brothers – for instance, the recent peony-inspired range produced in collaboration with another pair of siblings, Stephanie Primet and Caroline Cnocquaert, who head up Paris’ oldest florist, Lachaume.
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Dangote Refinery has once more reduced the prices of its fuel, lowering the ex-depot rate to N835 per liter.

Published
42 minutes agoon
April 16, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Dangote Refinery has indeed reduced the price of fuel to ₦835 per liter, marking a ₦30 decrease from the previous price of ₦865 per liter, which translates to a 3.5% reduction.
This latest adjustment follows a recent decline in global crude oil prices, which have dropped to $64 per barrel from over $70 per barrel in recent weeks.
Key Details:
– *New Price:* ₦835 per liter
– *Previous Price:* ₦865 per liter
– *Reduction:* ₦30 (3.5% decrease)
– *Global Crude Oil Price:* $64 per barrel (down from $70 per barrel)
Some Nigerians are welcoming the price reduction, while others are expressing skepticism, noting that transport costs haven’t decreased accordingly.
There’s also a call for further price reductions, considering the global crude oil price drop
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Nigerians score CrediCorp, power, agric ministries low

Published
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April 13, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Nigerians have rated the Ministries of Power and Agriculture and Food Security low on the Presidency’s Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit tracker, Sunday Ekwutos reports.
Data obtained by our correspondent from the tracker also revealed that the Ministry of Interior topped the chart, buoyed by multiple five-star reviews applauding improvements in passport and visa issuance.
On April 8, 2024, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and head of the CDCU, Hadiza Bala-Usma, inaugurated the Citizens’ Delivery Tracker.
Bala-Usman said the tracker would provide a “strong feedback loop” between citizens and the government and hold ministers and heads of government agencies accountable based on key deliverables.
“The Citizens Delivery Tracker App…will be constantly modified to enhance ease of use and maintain a strong feedback loop between citizens and their government,” she explained at the Go-Live event of the CDT in Abuja.
According to the latest CDCU data covering the last six months, citizens submitted 217 ratings overall, with an average of 3.1 out of 5 stars across agencies.
“The Ministry of Interior led with an average of 4.3, while the lowest-rated agency, the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, recorded 1.7,” the report read.
Tinubu’s eight priority areas
The deliverables border on the eight priority areas of the Bola Tinubu administration.
The CDT outlined 204 deliverables and 888 indicators to assess government ministries, departments and agencies. The deliverables comprised various government policies, projects and programmes scheduled for completion between 2024 and 2027.
In arriving at the deliverables and key performance indicators, Bala-Usman said the CDCU, supported by development partners and consultants, held numerous bilateral meetings with all the ministers, permanent secretaries, and their respective technical teams for six weeks.
The tracker came months after President Bola Tinubu announced plans for ministerial assessment at the cabinet retreat in November 2023.
At the cabinet retreat for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries, Tinubu said the CDCU would be strengthened to make citizens an integral part of his government’s monitoring and performance management process.
Direct citizens’ feedback
A summarised breakdown of the feedback availed to Sunday Ekwutos indicated that fertiliser and other inputs did not get to real farmers because of the absence of a proper database.
“I suggest there should be agric extension workers across the 774 LGAs to collate the data and support; that way, genuine farmers will be reached, not paper ones,” Damilola Ogidan, who rated the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security 2 out of 5, said.
Another respondent, Aimufua Emmanuel, in his rating of the Federal Ministry of Power, wrote, “Your excellency, I don’t know what we have done to God to give us a man like the power minister to take charge of the power sector. He’s by far the least performing minister in your cabinet. Ever since the beginning of this administration, our case has been from frying pan to fire. I live in Sangotedo, and since May last year, we have never had four hours of light in a day. At times we go one week without light blinking for a second, it is very obvious the power minister knows nothing about the power sector, listen to him and you’ll be quick to tell he knows nothing about generation, transmission and distribution of power. This man is clueless.’ He rated the Ministry of Power 1 out of 5.”
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The report continued: “One user, Lukman Kazeem, rated CrediCorp one star, commenting, ‘No indication that this agency is performing. No projects in the project list.’ The Delivery Manager for CrediCorp responded to clarify the agency’s status and ongoing initiatives.
“Oluwafemi Olanrewaju gave the Ministry of Interior five stars, commending ‘the improved processing time for visa issuance,” a key deliverable tied to the ministry’s priority.
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“Segun Owolabi rated the FIRS three out of five, citing issues with taxpayer data: ‘The stats of captured taxpayers across Nigeria has not been consistently updated… many low-income earners are being taxed by their employer even when the law stipulates taxable and nontaxable income.”
CrediCorp recorded the lowest rating, averaging only 1.7 stars.
In the same timeframe, Priority 6—covering Health, Education, and Social Investment—achieved the best performance (74 per cent), while Priority 4—concerning Energy and Natural Resources—posted a comparatively lower figure (53 per cent).
During this period, delivery managers maintained an average response time of 3.2 days, with 30 actively engaging citizen feedback and resolving about 76 per cent of submitted issues.
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PETROLEUM MINISTRY AND THREE AGENCIES UNDER ITS SUPERVISION PARTICIPATE IN IMF ARTICLE IV CONSULTATION

Published
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April 12, 2025By
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The Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR), alongside three agencies under its supervision—the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), recently participated in the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV Consultation in Nigeria.
The IMF team was in the country at the invitation of the Federal Government to engage selected government institutions and gather insights on developments across various sectors of the economy.
Speaking during the meeting held in Abuja, the Chairman of the session and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ambassador Nicholas Agbo Ella, expressed appreciation to the IMF team for their continued efforts and commitment to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy, particularly the oil and gas sector.
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Regarding gas production, the presentations underscored existing infrastructure developments and ongoing investments aimed at achieving production and distribution targets.
A significant part of the consultation examined the recent fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the strategies being employed to ensure its long-term sustainability. Discussions reflected a shared commitment to market-driven reforms and enhanced fiscal responsibility within the petroleum sector.
Participants at the meeting agreed that strong inter-agency collaboration, along with support from development partners and financial institutions, is essential to stabilize global oil markets and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security.
The meeting was attended by Directors, Heads of Units, and staff from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, representatives from the Federal Ministry of Finance, and IMF consultants.
This successful engagement reaffirmed Nigeria’s strategic commitment to transparency, sustainable growth, and international cooperation in the petroleum industry.

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