Deep in the desert, a girl danced around a night fire. Taking some glowing embers, she threw them high into the air, where they magically transformed into stars illuminating the pitch-black night, like diamonds in the sky. This ancient folk tale told beside night-time fires under the southern skies gave shape to the new Graff Tribal jewellery collection.

Graff jewellery designers transformed past and present, the earth and stars into a timeless collection of sculptural pieces portraying three symbols: the graff gateway, the night moon, and the new dawn. The stories our ancestors told to explain the world around them and the heavens above are embodied in designs whose glittering stars are white and yellow diamonds and one breathtakingly beautiful emerald suite.

New dawn
The sun, revered by ancient civilisations as the giver of life, floods the plains with light as it rises. In the Graff New Dawn motif, this energy is reflected in the sunbursts of white and yellow architectural pieces that radiate light and energy. In the exquisite necklace (above) a total of 374 white and yellow diamonds diverge from the core of a pear-shape Vivid Yellow diamond of 1.53 carat, each jewel blazing with powerful fire.

The Graff gateway
The main motif of the Graff collection is the Graff Gateway, which allows entry into a timeless existence. The Graff Gateway consists of distinctive architectural pieces featuring abstract ovals with pear-cut or round diamonds within. They evoke swirling galaxies, often with a brilliant diamond star at the heart. The ancient dunes of South Africa’s West Coast, where hunter-gatherers once roamed, provided the perfect backdrop for the shoot of the Graff Tribal collection.

Night moon
As the sun sets, the Night Moon is revealed as the third main motif of the Graff Tribal collection. The scintillating Night Moon pieces feature glittering diamonds reminiscent of stars scattered over the night skies. The moon represents one of the elemental shapes in the universe and designs invoking it in all its manifestations capture this essence, from a tantalising crescent to a minimalist half-moon and then to the glowing orb of the full moon rising. Luminous yellow diamonds and pure white diamonds are clustered together, enhancing their vibrant hues and creating prismatic patterns of brilliance.

Exquisite beauty
In a modern reimagining of primordial gemstones set in stylised tribal motifs, pieces of jewellery of exquisite beauty have been created. The photos, shot by leading fashion photographer Mikael Jansson in a landscape of undulating dunes, lend subtly sensual undertones to the sharp brilliance of the diamonds. The bold silhouettes of the Tribal collection set against the stark dune landscapes emanate strength and joy.

Emotive Symbolism
Sculptural abstract ovals defined by expressive curves resonate with emotive symbolism in the Graff Gateway motif. These spectacular portals magnify the exquisite pieces of jewellery photographed against sheer sand dunes. Graff’s creative team travelled to the Atlantic seashore in the Western Cape to shoot Portuguese supermodel Sara Sampaio. There, the large-scale blackened steel structures specially created for the shoot added another dimension to the sublime beauty of diamonds formed billions of years ago deep within the Earth.