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A Portuguese Jeweler Focuses Solely on Hand Work

Rosior, a family business, does not even use computer design programs.

A gold chain and two rings set with diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and tsavorite garnets.
At Rosior, a necklace and two rings in gold set with jewels including diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and tsavorite garnets.Credit...Matilde Viegas for The New York Times

Nestled beneath a pale pink rose is a ring of purple sapphires and garnets, surrounded by blue and leaf-green diamonds; half-hidden in the moss beside a purple clover, is a pair of diamond daisy earrings, with centers of dark blue tsavorite.

Like a walk in an enchanted garden, this is how you might discover the handcrafted jewels of the Portuguese house Rosior.

Run by the brother-and-sister team of José and Graça Rosas, Rosior does not advertise, and its one-of-a-kind bijoux cannot be found in stores (beyond its own small boutiques, one in Lisbon and one in Porto).

Rather, its jewelry — known for exuberant color, exacting execution and innovative design — can be found within its gardenlike displays at premier art-and-design fairs in New York City, the nearby Hamptons and Palm Beach, Fla.; on online platforms such as its own website or 1stdibs; or by appointment at the atelier in Porto. (“So you won’t find us at the Oscars,” José, 39, Rosior’s director of sales, joked during a recent video interview).

And, of course, it appears on the arms, necks and hands of loyal collectors, including Fernanda Arrepia, an art collector in Porto whose Rosior cache includes a bracelet that replicates a sunset photo her husband once took on a southern European holiday. Pink, blue, yellow and orange sapphires and yellow and white diamonds depict a golden sun descending over an ocean of blue sapphires, blue and white diamonds and emeralds — a pointillist painting comprising nearly 43 carats of gems. The cuff was created in 19.2-karat gold, the quality considered standard in Portugal, by Manuel Rosas, José and Graça’s father.

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Artistry underway at Rosior’s workshop in Porto, Portugal.Credit...Matilde Viegas for The New York Times
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A stone-setter placing diamonds in a new piece watches his work through a microscope lens.Credit...Matilde Viegas for The New York Times

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