So sang Marilyn Monroe, and nothing has changed since then!

I absolutely adore diamonds—especially big ones—so there was no way I was about to miss the launch of Canberra’s first luxury and bespoke jewellery concierge, Plumery, and the opportunity to view some beautiful, and rare, pink Argyle diamonds was just too good to pass up.

Plumery was founded in 2015 by Canberran Danielle Klar, a gemmologist and a GP (more of that connection later), and has now opened its doors in Deakin with the official launch on 12 August at the Hyatt Hotel Canberra together with one of the Hyatt’s fabulous morning teas—another reason not to miss the event.

Plumery themed Hyatt morning tea

Plumery provides bespoke custom designed pieces using superior gems, such as the Argyle diamond, and set in 18ct gold. And its concierge service assists people in discovering jewellery for engagements, birthdays, life milestones, or other special occasions, that is designed specifically for the buyer and their purpose, and meant to be worn on a regular basis—not just brought out occasionally to be looked at.

Creator and designer, Danielle Klar, is inspirational. Her story is incredible to say the least. Initially and armed forces medical doctor, she also studied business and management, and on leaving the military gradually moved into executive roles. But in 2014 Danielle suffered a significant health scare and was forced to slow down, take stock, and look at what truly made her happy. “I have always loved diamonds,” said Danielle. “The way they look, the way they sparkle, their versatility—I love everything about them really.” And so part of Danielle’s recovery was her first steps into the world of gemmology.

‘the ring to rule them all’ – image Plumery

Another significant occurrence that brought Danielle into gems was the purchase of a ring, now known simply as the ring to rule them all. On holiday in France, Danielle wandered into an antique/vintage shop for a browse, and fell in love with a sparkling vintage Ceylon sapphire and diamond ring. “In my terrible French, and his broken English, we managed to strike a deal,” says Danielle, “and I walked out having spent the last of our Euros on this amazing ring … but then it occurred to me that it could be fake and I’d been had. So I had the most incredible buyers’ remorse until I got back to Australia to have it checked. It wasn’t fake.” And she now says; ‘that entire journey brought me to Plumery’.

“My aim is to offer exquisite jewellery that can be worn every day,” says Danielle. “Plumery can source the perfect gems, and guide a client through the process from the design to finished beautiful hand-crafted pieces. Bespoke jewellery creation is an artisanal craft, and depending on the style of the design I will either make the piece myself or call upon a selection of highly skilled crafts people. It is the perfect combination of design, gold, diamonds and precious gems, together with the skillsets of jewellers, diamond setting, polishing and engraving, which results in custom-made exquisite jewellery.

“And a plumery is a collection of plumes; the beauty of adorning oneself in finery and defining itself as the keeper of many plumes, and everyone needs more than one plume in their plumage.”

Plume ring

But let’s get back to the diamonds. These diamonds are … OMG diamonds! Two pieces that caught my eye was a gorgeous subtle pink Argyle with a double halo of diamonds and a diamond set shank; priced just over $5,000, and later, when some rarer Argyles appeared, I honed in on a tiny little heart shaped diamond, sitting cutely in its padded box, with a tag of $21,000. Wishing and hoping springs to mind …

As well as the Argyle pinks, there was also a collection of blush diamonds, white diamonds, and diamonds of almost any colour you can name, plus sapphires, rubies (did you know rubies are actually red sapphires?), and other superior quality gems including beautiful pearls from the South Pacific.

Plumery is located in the Equinox Business Park, Deakin, and is currently open by appointment only. To see some of Plumery’s launch pieces, and to find out about group educational gem nights, visit their website, Facebook page, or Instagram.