All my pearls together

Do you remember the term pen pal? Someone you used to correspond with without ever having met? I had such a relationship, but in a slightly more modern way, with Fleur van Gelder.

Just like that in my life

She suddenly came into my life. I was expecting an email from a critical reader – they are very, very rare – but it was Fleur. She had seen me talking during our column May Meets, where I famously drove people from A to B, and then she emailed me. About how nice it is to be driven, but especially to be in the driver’s seat. And that, Fleur could no longer do. Because her life, due to an unbelievable accident that turned everything upside down, had changed so much. That she was still the same, truly, but her possibilities were drastically different. And that she, just like me, she suspected, lived with the reality that things can go very differently than you hope or have ever dreamed. Renate Gerschtanowitz So that email came in. Quite deep. Just like those pen friendships from the past, it took years before we really saw each other. But the bond had deepened without having met.

Eventually, I went with Daan to Den Bosch, where Van Gelder Jewellery is located. Because it was time to meet Fleur, the creative mind behind the jewels, and.

her sister Noëlle , the woman who brings all the beauty to the forefront. It was one of those meetings where you go from Bossche bol to lunch. It’s just that we had other appointments, otherwise we would have kept drinking wine and booked a hotel., Whether this was the intention.

As one thing leads to another, we decided to strengthen each other. And their beautiful jewels, my friends had to get to know them too. Because I was sure they would find them just as stunning as I did. So we set a date and I invited a select group at the Pillows at the Park in Amsterdam.

Fleur was there in spirit. So many people, so many conversations; it would be too much for her. But I preached the love for having a signature style and the importance of jewelry to underline that. And Noëlle… oh, Noëlle. She talked about their empire, about their mother, who is a business and creative mastermind, about how they give back to Indian society through a foundation that allows 5000 girls to go to school every year. About the sustainability and the good conditions in which their jewels are made. And she especially told that delightful story about her first school day, on which she, just to emphasize the festive character of this day, had pinned a particularly valuable brooch from her mother. Resulting in a phone call from the school principal, who just wanted to know if this was exactly the intention.

The perfect match.

An afternoon that feels like a birthday, because the energies were so beautiful and so pure. Just like those of the jewels. We formed, just like Fleur, Noëlle, and I, the perfect match.

What Van Gelder does as a jeweler.

“We are a second-generation jeweler, designing our own jewelry based on the foundation of our company: old and traditional jewelry from India. Not copies of the old, but our current interpretations of the crafts of the old jewelry, the philosophies, the rituals. Among other things, we make this tangible in a modern jewelry collection. This is sold through stores all over the world. The narrative of Van Gelder (of old Indian jewelry paired with modern interpretations) can be seen in the ‘hidden jewellery box’ in the center of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.”

“The gift that all women want to find at Christmas‘