PADANI is particularly proud of this original jewelry collection, and we will periodically share with you the stories behind our various collections. The first collection we have chosen to write about is the Love & Friendship Collection.
Six years ago PADANI came up with the idea to design an original jewelry collection which would maintain its well- known characteristics regarding meticulous design and high quality of materials, while at the same time creating something new and emotionally uplifting. The idea was that the jewelry in the collection would project feeling and that their design would include the projection of these feelings and emotions so that whoever buys a piece of jewelry from this collection and gives it as a gift would be able to express his emotions through the gift. Benny Padani approached Sigal Peled, PADANI’s chief designer, in order to bring his idea to fruition. And she, in turn, embraced the idea naturally.
“I work a lot with my emotions and the Love & Friendship Collection is the result of thoughts and feelings from my everyday life” says Sigal Peled, the chief designer for PADANI. The collection was born just before her daughter was drafted into the army. “My daughter was getting ready to enlist and I thought to myself, what can I do for her and what can I give her?” she recalls. The result was the first piece in the collection which up till today is still extremely popular – the enlistment pendant.
Inside this pendant, which is designed like an army dog tag from yellow or white gold, a diamond is embedded, which represents the girl or boy who is enlisting. On the opposite side, the “Birkat Hadarech” (the blessing for travel) appears, and the pendant hangs on a chain whose length is in keeping with the requirements of the army.
The Love & Friendship Collection is a very special one. As with all of the PADANI collections, the material and craftsmanship are of the highest quality and the jewelry is perfect in terms of aesthetics, but that is not the whole story. According to Sigal, “When you pour your emotions into a piece of jewelry it goes up a notch and whoever wears it becomes attached to it”. “Every detail of each piece in the collection has meaning – the multi-language pendant, for instance, is fixed to its chain in a very special way which emphasizes the connection between the lovers. Also the heart in the middle of the pendant is designed like a funnel which symbolizes the fact that whoever gives this chain as a gift lets love pour in.