I first started making jewellery for sale when I was 8 years old, in the distant year of 2000 XD It was the height of smiley-face name bracelets, but I was never a fan of those: I wanted to make fancy shiny grown-up jewellery, like the ones my grandma made with the aid of VHS how-to tapes (the Youtube of the time). I begged my parents to buy me beads, elastic and tools and off we went to famous São Paulo street, 25 de março, which has always been the place to go to buy haberdashery, fabrics and other craft materials from “the source”.

I wanted to be a serious business woman, so I asked my dad to make me business cards on Word. They read “Marianna Bijoux” in tacky cursive font with a webdings gift box icon, followed by our 7-digit landline phone number (see picture below for evidence!). I then proceeded to force all my friends to purchase my elastic bead bracelets during recess. I don’t think anyone ever called our house to buy jewellery, but it did feel super fancy having a business card!

Fast-forward to 2020, a couple months into lockdown. The huge company I used to work for had transferred me from Brazil to London back in 2017 and luckily I still got to keep my job during Covid, but I was feeling down and in need of new ways to occupy all this time at home. A friend sent me a picture of a wine bottle that read “Nana” in cursive (Nana is my nickname!), and it somehow reminded me of my jewellery business cards and how much I enjoyed making jewellery by hand when I was a kid!

I had never felt so giddy thinking about all the possibilities of a handmade jewellery business, I even had trouble fallling asleep with excitement. Coming up with the name “Luneta”, getting a Photoshop free trial to make the logo, thinking about the materials I could use… At first I thought maybe polymer clay, but a quick search revealed so many amazing makers that seemed way more talented than me (and also, polymer clay is made of oil, so not very sustainable). Then I thought I could just buy regular beads online, but I wanted a more sustainable material and to make unique designs, not just make what everyone else was already making. This led me to vintage beads ❤️

Vintage and sustainability have always been passions of mine, I’ve worn vintage clothes since I was a teen, so it was a natural turn of events - even though in Brazil, we don’t really have a “vintage” culture and it’s hard finding anything older than the 70s. Lots of polyester. Living in the UK meant that I had access to all these treasures and damn I wanted to make use of them!

Luneta was born when I realized I could take vintage jewellery apart, get rid of all their accumulated dirt & rusty/possibly toxic metal parts, keep only their beautifully weird beads and mix them with new, quality metal bits to create unexpected contemporary jewellery - different from what’s available on the high street, but still hygienic and free from any toxic substances that might have been deemed ok in the past, like nickel. All our handmade jewellery is nickel-free & suitable for your cute, sensitive ears 🤗 🥰

Luneta specializes in repurposing vintage beads to make sustainable contemporary jewellery - not only because vintage beads are more special and unique, but also because I’m commited to decreasing my brand’s environmental impact. I don’t use single-use plastics and our packaging is recyclable. Luneta is also an Ecologi partner to further offset our carbon footprint ✨

I hope the unusual shapes and bright colours of my creations will bring you joy ❤️ Check out the sustainable jewellery I make by hand in London here!

Please do get in touch if you have any feedback on how I can improve. Luneta is still new and I’m learning as I go. Thank you for supporting a small, woman-owned business :)