Atelier Leseine Creates Jewelry To Adorn You

Born in Paris, now residing near San Francisco, Nathalie's first love affair with jewels started in Paris when she would walk along Place Vendôme admiring all of the gorgeous creations of Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet, etc. The window displays made her dream and sparked her artistic creative imagination. A move to San Francisco at the age of 19 took her on a detour when she decided to major in Public Relations with a minor in Chinese, a language which appealed to her for its artistic style of writing. Passionate and curious to discover different cultures, she traveled a lot to Asia, and to many countries in the South Pacific. The 90's were spent creating and working on an Internet marketing business in Silicon Valley which she sold in 2000.

Nathalie fondly recalls memories from her first trip to Tahiti in 1995; "It was October and while the plan approached the landing strip, the crystalline blue lagoon was sparkling. I thought of tiny diamonds dancing. The lush green island of Moorea looked like an emerald sitting atop an aquamarine. I was so eager to discover the real gem of these waters, la perle de Tahiti; a gorgeous Tahitian pearl, lustrous with many color variations. It was my second love affair with jewels!"

After spending several months in French Polynesia in 2003 meeting pearl farmers and learning about the industry, Nathalie founded Tahitian Designs in 2004. It was time to follow her artistic passion and share it with others! Indeed, she has until now sold to designers from all over the world Tahitian pearls with a unique twist. She had them delicately carved with traditional Polynesian motifs, so as to highlight their beauty and to show the world the soul they possess.

January 2011 was another turning point in Nathalie's life when she met a famed New York designer, Geoffrey Good. She thought her carved pearls might be good for his unusual designs. Turns out, months later and after many conversations, she decided it was time to take her passion for jewels even further. It was time for her to create!

And so Atelier Leseine was born! For her first collection, she logically decided to partner with Geoffrey Good as his style is perfect for the vision she had behind her first line: Perle Captive.

Atelier Leseine is about the representation of Nathalie's love for the artistic designs from France, The United States, The South Pacific and Asia. She will explore her wish to link the cultures she loves, to link classic designs to contemporary lines with an attention to detail worthy of her French savoir-faire.

Our chosen logo for Atelier Leseine, a hummingbird, often referred to as a flying jewel, is the perfect representation of what we wish to express. Hummingbird are fearless, fly across many countries bringing joy to people who admire them, for their unique jeweled colored tiny body are a miracle of Nature. The famous Poet Pablo Neruda wrote "Ode to the Hummingbird".

Atelier Leseine supports the fight against breast cancer by guiding clients to a site where they can give a free mammogram to someone at no cost for them, just a few seconds of their time. It is a very personal cause that touched Nathalie's life in a meaningful way when her best friend passed away in December 2011.