2025-12-23 00:00:002025-12-23 00:00:00https://avenuemagazine.comAvenue MagazineJewelry Master MARLA AARON's New Collection Plays With Porcelain To Perfection
Jewelry Master MARLA AARON's New Collection Plays With Porcelain To Perfection
December 23, 2025
“The world has changed dramatically. The notion of hand-painted porcelain at this level of execution is rarified and beautiful.”
PORCELAIN DOLL: Designer Marla Aaron
More than three centuries of meticulous craftsmanship dazzle in MARLA AARON’s new fine jewelry collection that reimagines Nymphenburg’s rarefied hand painted porcelain for a new era, discovers MAGGIE DAVIS.
Within the walls of Munich’s Nymphenburg Palace, the craft of porcelain has thrived and survived since 1747, through the Industrial Revolution and wartime destruction. Nymphenburg hand-painted porcelain is an institution that has withstood the forces of time—a nearly 300-year-old legacy rooted in Bavarian history.
New York designer Marla Aaron has been obsessed with Nymphenburg porcelain for years. “I became entranced by the story of this more than 300-year-old German porcelain company that still hand-paints their porcelain, set in a castle outside of Munich,” she says. A cold-call-style email to the general Nymphenburg inquiry address was the first step in the birth of Marla Aaron x Nymphenburg. Soon, Aaron was visiting the Nymphenburg workshop. “When I saw the Cumberland dinnerware pattern, I instantly understood how this intricate pattern would be stunningly reimagined as jewelry,” she recalls. The collaboration was obvious. Nymphenburg’s hand-painted porcelain holds the same rarity coveted in fine jewelry. Aaron worried that if people didn’t experience the beauty of this craft, it could become obsolete. “Our jewelry is allowing people to experience Nymphenburg at its most exquisite. The Cumberland pattern is an utterly joyous explosion of flowers and bugs rimmed in intricately patterned gold. It is simply the most beautiful China pattern I’ve ever seen.”
“These pieces felt like the perfect balance between mechanism and beauty. We are prepared to dazzle many more people with what’s coming.”
Marla Aaron x Nymphenburg
Porcelain is anything but forgiving. Understanding we could cut the porcelain in the same way we cut stones was an ‘Aha’ moment. The assembly of the porcelain and its gold components presented a whole new set of challenges for our jewelers. We learned a great deal in the process that we are excited to apply to other collections.
You ultimately landed on four pieces, like the “Lock” and the “Trundle.” I saw the pieces we could make so clearly on that initial visit to Nymphenburg. The idea I pitched in the moment: four distinct pieces: a lock, a trundle lock bracelet, a pair of earrings and a rendition of our ring holder called a depository, all in porcelain with mechanisms finished in gold. These pieces felt like the perfect balance between mechanism and beauty, able to showcase the Cumberland pattern in a new, very special way.
The porcelain lock seems like the technical summit of the collection. The lock was deeply challenging. We approached it in different ways. Now that we understand this, we are on our way to thinking about new things we can do.
You’re bringing Nymphenburg back to the public eye. I want people to experience Nymphenburg. The world has changed dramatically. The notion of hand-painted porcelain at this level of execution is rarified and beautiful. We finished the project with so many ideas of what else we want to make after learning the ins and outs of working with the material. We are prepared to dazzle many more people with what’s coming.
