Satta Matturi had an atypical childhood. While most of us had kitchen tables cluttered with board games or art supplies, her playthings were a little more sparkly and a lot more valuable, seeding her passion for diamonds early on.
“We used to have a sorting office in our house in Sierra Leone,” recalls the jewelry designer, who launched her self-titled luxury brand in 2015. “I’d come home to buyers, sorters and valuers, all working under the sorting lamps. It was fascinating.”
The reason for this was her father’s job as De Beers’ West African resident director and chief executive, which placed him in charge of the miner’s operations in Guinea and Liberia. Matturi lived with her family in Sierra Leone until she was 14, when she moved to London to complete her schooling — just a couple of years before the 1991 civil war broke out.
Returning to her roots
After university, Matturi followed in the family tradition and joined De Beers. She spent 16 years deepening her knowledge of diamonds in its wholesale division, selling unpolished diamonds to major clients such as Tiffany & Co. Her husband also works for De Beers, sitting on the board of the corporation’s global sales arm.
When De Beers relocated its sales operations from London to Botswana several years ago, she decided to take voluntary severance and part ways with the company. However, she did join her husband in the move, and the return to Africa kickstarted her chance to chase a long-held creative dream.
“I had to do 12 months of gardening leave, which meant I couldn’t work in the industry, and thought, ‘Why don’t I build my brand?’” she recalls.
Over the next year, Matturi brought her design vision to life, delving into her West African heritage for inspiration. The results were her Debut Collection and its follow-up, Artful Indulgence, a line dedicated solely to statement earrings. The color palette for the latter is warm, the gemstones bright, mixing rubellites with bright flashes of diamond. Motifs such as shields and totem masks are subtly woven into red-carpet-ready jewels.
Niche market
What started as a few sales to friends evolved into an increasing network of private clients, and Satta Matturi Fine Jewellery is now on the shelves at trendsetting jewelry boutique Kabiri in London.
“My typical client is a woman who is over 45,” says Matturi. These women “buy it themselves, and they are not afraid to spend GBP 10,000 or GBP 15,000 on a piece of jewelry. They can afford Cartier, Bulgari, anything, but something different is what they are looking for.”
Next on the agenda for Matturi is the US. The designer has signed up to exhibit at the Couture show in June, where she will show off her Artful Indulgence line. “I’m not looking to go mass, I want it to stay niche,” she says. “If I can get three or four retailers [in the US], that would be fine.”
Cultural migration
Niche is also a good word to describe her future creative endeavors.
“I will look to Africa again, because there is so much culture you can bring into designs, but I’m starting work on my new collection, which is looking at Egypt,” she shares, hinting that this new line could incorporate colored diamonds. “Also the culture of Brazil, but not Brazil as we know it. There was a huge migration of people from West Africa to Brazil that influenced culture, food, drumming, the music they make; it’s beautiful. I think, going forward, what would work with my headspace is creating one-off pieces, like Viren Bhagat [does, making] objets d’art.”
This seems like a natural next step for this talented designer, with her enviable roster of jewelry-industry contacts and a creative voice that taps into what the art world is calling the “golden age” of contemporary African art.
Image: Satta Matturi; Java Shield earrings and Electric Seahorse earrings, both featuring rose-cut diamonds, gold and rubellite. Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2019. To subscribe click here.