Actually, it all began with a small pearl that the young Frank Nesper gave to his future wife. A pearl with a heart-shaped indentation in its mother-of-pearl layer. That pearl not only symbolised Yana's love for Frank, to whom she has been married since 1994; it is also a symbol of her special love for the world of pearls, to which she has devoted her creativity and passion for more than 20 years.
The YANA NESPER brand has officially existed since 2010. The high-quality pearl jewellery, created by designer and artist Yana, thus took its start as an independent company. But the history of YANA NESPER as a brand extends much further into the past. It began a whole generation earlier, in her own childhood and youth and in the history of her family-in-law. In this blog article, we tell the story of the YANA NESPER pearl jewellery company, which is characterised by family tradition.
Pure pearls from first-hand sources - for more than 50 years
In 1970, Heinz and Ilse Nesper founded an import company for cultured pearls. After graduating from high school and completing a bank apprenticeship, Heinz Nesper first started working as a traveller for a jewellery manufacturer in Pforzheim - the perfect career choice for the language and travel enthusiast Heinz. After working for some time in sales for cultured pearls, he and his wife Ilse soon decided to try their luck independently in the pearl trade business.
The unusual start of a long journey
In the same year, 1970, the two flew to Japan for the first time. They fondly remember this first trip to Tokyo, because it began with a very special incident: in the taxi from the airport to the hotel, Heinz Nesper had accidentally left his briefcase on the back seat, in it passports, flight tickets, the supplier address book, customer wish list and all their savings and cash - the dream threatened to burst before it had even begun. But to Heinz and Ilse's surprise, the taxi driver returned, handed over the valuable briefcase with white gloves and refused the finder's fee with a bow. Without his honesty, Heinz and Ilse's project would never have become reality, and until this day, honesty is the basis of the company. It is only through honesty that Heinz and Ilse have been able to build up the much needed trust over the many years that it takes to do business successfully with Japanese pearl farmers. "Only years count in the Far East."
With the market for cultured pearls in Germany still untapped at the time, Heinz and Ilse Nesper quickly managed to establish themselves. Personal contact and further visits to the pearl farms guaranteed them the best quality of each pearl harvest at first hand. It did not take long for Heinz and Ilse Nesper to gain deep knowledge of pearl farming and pearl quality. Heinz Nesper always selected the world's best pearls personally and on site, in order to then pass them on expertly to jewellers and jewellery makers in Germany.
6 months at the pearl farm
Now known as one of the most important importers of cultured pearls, the Nespers' company continued to grow. Son Frank Nesper also decided to follow his parents' path in the early 1990s. In 1992, Frank Nesper was the first European ever to work on the Japanese pearl farm of Tasaki Shinju. In the process, he learned far more about pearls than just their quality criteria: from the treatment and care of oysters, to harvesting, to inserting the mother-of-pearl nuclei into the oysters. As a trainee at the pearl farm in Shikoku, he - like all the employees - slept on tatami mats made of rice straw for six months and fed on seaweed and raw fish. During the day, he operated on pearl oysters, nursed and cared for them after the operation, sorted the raw material after harvesting, drilled holes in the pearls and assembled pearl strands. Frank Nesper thus went through all the stages of pearl farming in Japan. To this day, this makes him one of the most extraordinary people on the jewellery market, where few people have explored the chain of origin of their jewellery as deeply as the Nesper family.
In 1993, Yana also joined the family business. The four of them made plans for the future and continued to examine and select the finest pearls from around the world. For 40 years now, the passion for pearls has been a tradition in the Nesper family; today, Frank and Yana Nesper run the company independently in the second generation.
Yana's story
The second, essential part of the company's history is Yana's own life. Just like the pearls themselves, the extraordinary designs of the YANA NESPER brand include above all Yana's design skills, her ideas and her knowledge of elegance and accessories.
Yana Nesper comes from the Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, where she grew up and studied. She enjoyed classical piano lessons at a young age, loved travelling and was interested in fashion, beauty and trends. The natural elegance that Yana attributes to the brand, and to pearls in particular, she also embodies herself and in her smart jewellery designs. At the same time, Yana brings a unique sophistication to her brand: through her naval architecture engineering studies, Yana applies her spatial talent to construct jewellery that is transformable and versatile. The core aim of the jewellery brand remains to exude elegance and beauty through her pearl jewellery:
"I want to create jewellery that I know will accompany the wearer for a lifetime, that I know will bring her joy every time she wears it - whether it's every day or just once for a special occasion. I am convinced that a beautiful earring, necklace or bracelet is much more than just an accessory for a woman: it can be a reminder or a trigger to feel the best, the most beautiful and the most elegant; this is the feeling I wish for every woman who wears pearls.”
The YANA NESPER brand until today
The designer jewellery brand YANA NESPER is based on these pillars - the high-quality pearls of the Nespers and Yana's personality. In the more than ten years since it was founded, certain basic values have not changed. For example, the natural elegance that is inherent in every pearl and every jewellery design. Pearls are discreet luxury with class and style, no matter which piece of jewellery.
Early designs that Yana first launched under the YANA NESPER jewellery brand in 2010 reflected these values with incomparable beauty: the three-row Akoya pearl necklace that still remains in the collection today, the delicate pearl and diamond pendant on yellow gold, or the first simple creole designs with Akoya and Tahiti pearls.
The focus has always been on comfortable wearability, transformability and beautiful design. The WRAPme bracelet was also an early jewellery design that YANA NESPER is still known for today: the simple bracelet made of 18-carat gold can be wrapped around the wrist or arm thanks to the memory wire and effortlessly adapts to any size. Available in various lengths and colour combinations, it is one of Yana's personal favourites. Although the first collections have expanded many times over, the essence of the brand always remains the same. The YANA NESPER brand lives the twist between tradition and modernity, between enduring values and fashionable styling - a unique combination that only pearls can embody.
In her 10 years as a jewellery designer, YANA NESPER has also celebrated great successes: from design awards to fashion week features as well as appearances in the press and trend forecasts. Pearl jewellery will probably continue to make history under YANA NESPER.
