Clara: Why I Had to Build Orientra

I used to think I had made it. Five years into my career as a jewelry designer in London, I had my dream job—stable, creative, respected. But the truth? I felt empty. The collections I worked on were beautiful, sure. But they didn’t feel. Not the way I needed them to. They were crafted for trends, for status, for polished magazine spreads. None of them told a story. None of them meant anything.

What I longed for was jewelry with soul. Not just aesthetics, but energy. Pieces that carried something beyond the surface. And that longing—restless and persistent—eventually pulled me halfway across the world to Tibet.

I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but the moment I stepped into Tsering’s family jewelry shop in Lhasa, I knew I had found it. There was nothing dainty or manufactured about those pieces. They were bold, elemental, alive. Necklaces that looked like protection spells. Rings that felt like memory. The kind of pieces that could anchor you when everything else spun.

Tsering herself was the kind of woman you don't forget. Quiet strength, fierce artistry, eyes that see through you. She showed me her family’s work—passed down through generations—and as she spoke, I realized her approach to jewelry was everything I’d been missing. Every curve and cut was intentional. Every stone, symbolic. She didn't just make jewelry. She channeled it.

We talked for hours. About identity. About loss and longing. About how jewelry could heal, protect, remind, and rebel. It didn’t take long to realize we were carrying the same fire: the desire to create pieces that connect spirit and style, rooted in tradition but reimagined for today.

So we began. Slowly, deliberately. From opposite ends of the world, building something together. For three years, we sketched, soldered, and experimented. We made mistakes. We learned. We sold pieces to friends, then strangers who became loyal collectors. And in 2024, we finally launched Orientra.

This isn’t just a brand. This is a calling. A home for pieces that hold power. A place where Tibetan craftsmanship and contemporary design speak the same language. Every piece we create is a bridge—between cultures, between past and present, between the seen and the unseen.

To those who feel too much for trend jewelry and too little for luxury status symbols—you’re not alone. You’re who we make this for.

Welcome to Orientra.

—Clara
Co-Founder, Designer, Seeker of the Real