You could say Satta Matturi knows her way around a diamond. The founder and creative director of Matturi Fine Jewellery grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where her father ran De Beers’ West African operation. She then spent 17 years with the diamond giant herself, including six years in South Africa.
But knowing how to value a very good stone and wanting to design with one are rather different things. Matturi took the leap into the latter realm in 2015, with no formal design training. Today her acclaimed jewellery draws deeply on her West African heritage, from ancient Nomoli figures to the humble calabash. The results are anything but humble. Her pieces have appeared at Sotheby’s, in Vogue and The New York Times, and on Viola Davis, while her London atelier is now on Bond Street. With the Calabash, a new series of wearable sculptures launching on September 16, she plays with bronze, titanium, aluminium and wood alongside gold and diamonds. We caught up with her to talk books, food, art and the tiny tool she’s never far from.
What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year and why?
I tend to have two books on the go: fiction for the train commute into work and another by my bedside, which might be history, self-care or spiritual awareness. Currently, I’m reading the first book in Jeffrey Archer’s Clifton Chronicles, set in 1920s England, which has been on my list for a while. My bedside read is Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali by Djibril Tamsir Niane, which tells the story of Sundiata Keita, the first ruler of the Mali Empire in the 13th century. I’m particularly interested in it as I’m researching my new calabash-inspired jewellery pieces and their links with West Africa’s griot historians.
How do you keep fit?
By having a variety of exercises to keep it fresh and fun. I weight train twice a week with my trainer, do Pilates once a week, swim once a week and do lots of walking when I can. Having a four-year-old son also adds to the tank, which is good!
Weeknight low-key restaurant go-to?
Nothing beats a really good piping-hot rice bowl from The Giggling Squid, a small chain of Thai restaurants in the UK. When I’m in Joburg, The Fishmonger in Illovo (my idea of low-key) has to be the one to drop into. I love fish, and they do some of the best.
What is the one artwork you’ll always love and why?
The Mona Lisa. It’s a bit of a cliché, but my father had a framed print of it hanging in our sitting room when I was growing up, and I was very aware of her gaze following me every time I walked by. She’s been that big sister keeping watch over me, and I feel an instant connection with her every time I visit the Louvre.
Do you have a hobby? What is it?
Being a jewellery designer, I’m passionate about jewels and precious stones. I’m very lucky to do something that fulfils my creative side but also earns me a living. Everyone needs to have a hobby of sorts.
The one unusual item you can’t live without?
A hand loupe, which is a portable magnifying glass used for inspecting jewellery and gemstones. My husband and I spent two decades working as rough diamond and sales experts with De Beers in London, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, so this tiny tool was an extension of our lives. We have a number of them lurking around the house, in briefcases and handbags, just in case the need arises to inspect something. We both have impeccable attention to detail, and I’m certain it’s due to all that time spent looking for the perfect and imperfect.
Who was your high school celeb crush?
Most of the artists from the New Jack Swing/R&B era: Al B. Sure!, Bobby Brown and the like.
Three songs you’d take to a desert island?
The Sweetest Taboo by Sade, Remember Me by Lucky Dube and anything by Prince and The Revolution.
