I’ve always maintained that Manila is an insider’s city, and here’s a new space, as private as the inside of a jewelry box, as snug and sheltering as the gleaming nacre-lined interior of a gold-lipped oyster shell—the Maison Jewelmer, a secret perched atop the bustling city of Makati.

From depths of up to 25 meters in hatcheries in northern Palawan—where Jewelmer breeds its oysters—into the sky at the height of 186 meters, the golden South Sea pearl opens up a new space to elevate appreciation of this national gem of the Philippines, along with the very best of the country and the Filipino. 

At the penthouse on the 55th floor of Alveo Financial Tower at the very heart of Makati's business district, Maison Jewelmer is a high jewelry experience like no other in Manila, in which you are welcomed by doors, at once massive and delicate, made of mother-of-pearl, the first of its kind. It’s no ordinary entry, ushered in as you are by the time-honored tales of sun and sea, time and tide, each embedded in the golden iridescence of the aragonite platelets. 

Inside, find yourself in the midst of a space so artfully thought out, the carpet mimicking the waves washing over the shore, the lighting designed in wire and abaca by Tadeco to imitate the natural forms of the sea fan coral. 

On display at the foyer are 15th-century Chinese and Vietnamese ceramics recovered from an ancient shipwreck beneath Jewelmer’s pearl farms in Taytay, Palawan.

Maison Jewelmer is a sensorial showcase of the beauty made possible by the gold-lipped South Sea oyster, pinctada maxima, and the heritage of Jewelmer that has been built since its founding in 1979 by Jacques Branellec and Manuel Cojuangco out of respect for nature’s magic. 

Jewelmer turned to Paris-based agency La Meute Design and Communication to conceptualize the space to be a cross between a traditional high-end shop and a plush home, where every corner, awash in the earth colors of the walls, ranging from caramel beiges to espresso browns, punctuated by the opalescence of a painting inspired by a view of the surface of the Philippine sea from inside a private plane, is an intimate encounter with the unparalleled beauty of the golden South Sea pearl. The attention to detail with which this space has been lavished is equivalent in intensity and integrity as the commitment of Jewelmer to the world’s most lustrous cultured South Sea pearls, which it harvests on a non-extractive approach, carefully managing its breeding programs, minimizing impact on the marine environment, and by so doing contributing to or preserving the natural growth of the oyster population.

With other soul-stirring works of art like the those of Britanny artist Thomas Godin, Filipina artist Olivia d’Aboville Grgić, and Chinese national artist Bukuk Chai, as well as décor by Cebu-based designers like Casa Selma and Obra Cebuana, this space holds high, up in the sky, the pride of place not only of Jewelmer as a Filipino brand, but of the Philippines and its people. 

“Maison Jewelmer is our way of giving back and expressing our gratitude to our clients who have supported us through these years,” says Jacques Christophe Branellec, who now helms Jewelmer as its CEO, along with his sister Marion Branellec de Guzman, its chief marketing officer. “We want them to celebrate their personal milestones here.” 

Some of the jewelry pieces on display at Maison Jewelmer are not available in the other retail stores. Of the collections showcased in this elegant space the headliner is the four-themed “Objets d’Art,” featuring exquisite jewelry designed to honor “air, water, earth, and fire,” each piece exquisite, reminiscent in opulence of Fabergé eggs, imperial jade seals and cloisonné, micromosaics, or a Mamluk-era bowl. 

A repository of all the stories—the people, the culture, and the environment that make the existence of the South Sea pearl possible—Maison Jewelmer is an assertion of the brand’s heritage, a manifest of its unwavering commitment to nature and its preservation, an expression of Filipino hospitality, and a pause from the hustle and bustle of modern living.

Maison Jewelmer is accessible only by invitation or appointment.