The flash of a diamond in a box will make anyone’s heart beat a little faster, but the true romance in receiving a beautiful gift of jewellery is in its potential to be both a harbinger and a keeper of memories. Take designer Liliya Areyfulina, who started her line, Runa, after a lifelong love affair with jewellery. “My first piece was a very feminine watch given to me by my father,” she remembers. “I was seven years old, and I was so in love with it that I used to go to sleep with it on!”

Fast-forward to 2012—after some intensive training in New York, Moscow and Paris—when Areyfulina began creating one-of-a-kind pieces for herself and her friends. “I wanted fine jewellery that I could wear every day,” she says, explaining how she couldn’t find anything she loved in stores. Her jewellery is meant to be worn with a laid-back attitude and treasured for the simple joy that it brings rather than for the value of its materials. “Even though I use diamonds and emeralds, I don’t want people to take my designs too seriously,” she says. “I want them to enjoy life.”

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Sapphires, like the red ones in this earring, are currently one of the designer’s favourite materials to work with. “Sapphires represent truth and loyalty—to wear them is to show your devotion,” she says.

Areyfulina named Runa Jewelry after the ancient Germanic alphabet rune, dating back to AD 150. “My line is based on an esteem for history,” she says, describing her aesthetic as a blend of heritage and cutting-edge craftsmanship.

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As for the inspiraton behind this particular set? “At first, it was just an arrow,” says Areyfulina. “But when a girl thinks about an arrow, logically a bleeding heart comes next.”

“Heart Arrow” gold, sapphire and diamond earrings, Runa Jewelry ($5,755), at Archives, archivesltd.com.

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