Jessenia Landrum of Jevela Designs Special Pendant for Simone Biles

Jewelry designer Jessenia Landrum of the brand Jevela embarked on a passionate journey to create her pieces. Landrum was backpacking through Southeast Asia when she felt inspired to create her first collection. Her experience and design expertise have led her to where she is today, most recently designing a necklace for jewelry lover and Olympic gold medalist, Simone Biles in honor of her ambassadorship with the Boston branch of the Friends of the Children charity. This charity is nationwide and empowers the youth through mentorship, pairing each child with a one-on-one mentor. 

Landrum always had a love for jewelry, telling Only Natural Diamonds that her affinity for craftsmanship began while running her own blog that she would post photos of jewelry people wore on the street. Before she went backpacking, Landrum said, “I was creating pieces by hand, but I knew I wanted to scale the company through manufacturing and allow myself the ability to focus on other parts of the business.” She continued, “So I decided to start in India, where I could meet with jewelry manufacturers,” adding, “I also knew that the artwork throughout Southeast Asia would be inspiring.”

Landrum was a member of the Natural Diamond Council’s Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative (EDDI) where she honed her skills as a fine jewelry designer. “Being exposed to the world of natural diamonds through the EDDI program will always be my favorite experience because I got the opportunity to create community and friendship through the program. I have learned so much in the past year,” she shared.

On creating the pendant for Biles and Friends of the Children, Landrum explained, “I am a byproduct of the mentorship and opportunities that have come into my path throughout my lifetime.” She continued, “Knowing the impact, I am so grateful to be aligned with an organization I understand firsthand.” Landrum spoke about her achievements and experiences that provided her with the fundamental interpersonal skills to be a leader, a problem solver, and ultimately a jewelry designer and business owner. 

The pendant is made of 14-karat gold with natural blue sapphires and features the Friends of the Children 1/1 logo. “The first round of designs didn’t quite cut it because they were missing the human touch of the organization, rather than just displaying the 1/1 logo,” she said. “I did some research and found that one of their previous logos included a sort of embrace between a child and an adult, so I decided to channel that motif with the logo inside and the team loved it.” As a nod to Simone Biles’ achievements, she added, “The silhouette also resembles that of a gold medal.”

I love how ecosystems and communities have been able to grow through the world of natural diamonds and gemstones.

For Landrum, using natural diamonds and gemstones in her designs is a nonnegotiable. “They are products of the earth’s work over billions of years,” she said. “There is a whole world when you look into a natural diamond — it tells its story, where it comes from, and what was happening in the earth’s core at that time.” Landrum also spoke about the importance of the natural diamond industry, saying, “I love how ecosystems and communities have been able to grow through the world of natural diamonds and gemstones.”