Eco-Friendly jewelry inspired by Peruvian culture: Monique Péan

Monique Péan started her career in finance while taking design classes on the side and was in 2006 when she launched her eponymous eco-friendly and sustainable fine jewelry collection 

MONIQUE PÉAN is defined by its unique materials, one-of-a-kind pieces and avant-garde style. The first to feature fossilized woolly mammoth ivory and fossilized walrus ivory in fine jewelry, MONIQUE PÉAN has established itself as the premier eco-friendly fine jewelry collection on the market

Here there are my favorite pieces from the INTI and SUT'ANA collections:

The INTI Collection was inspired by ancient Peruvian culture and Incan architecture. The collection features vivid color and cubist-inspired ge­ometries. The linear and structural designs play off of the organic quality of the natural materials, creating rich contrast and interesting juxtapositions of positive and negative space

“I have long been intrigued by the Incan civilization – a culture that worshipped the sun and used gold in abundance. I am fascinated by the precision of ancient Incan architecture and how it has been softened by nature over hundreds of years. The unique tension that exists between the strong geometry of their architecture and the organic beauty of the surrounding mountains of the Urubamba Valley region strongly influenced my design process and the ethos behind this collection,” Pean explains

The color palette includes electric blue, rich green and acid yellow hues from Peruvian opal, serpentine and opalina, which feature prominently in the collection. Monique worked with artisanal miners to source the most rare and beautiful pieces of piercing blue opalina

The SUT'ANA collection is Péan's second line inspired by her recent travels to Peru. The collection is a natural follow up from the INTI Collection, which was inspired by the vibrant color and striking architecture found in the Andes region. In SUT'ANA, a derivation of the words "black" and "blue" in Incan dialect, Péan shifts her focus to the thriving artistic culture within modern-day Peru

"During my trip to Peru, I not only visited the amazing Nazca Lines and Macchu Picchu, but also spent time exploring the markets, tasting the food and embracing local traditions throughout the country. I was particularly struck by the dynamic color and modern sense of planar design that saturate the city of Cuzco," Péan comments

In this collection, the designer references the angular patterns and bold contrasting primary colors found in Peruvian textiles. She pairs her signature fossilized woolly mammoth ivory and fossilized walrus ivory with vivid blue opalina, amber straw topaz and citrine, natural brown agate, black jade and fossilized jet. While the collection alludes to Péan's personal travels to a specific region of the world, the intense color and geometric precision present throughout the collection resonate with graphic composition and disparate color blocking prevalent in the abstract modern art movements