Throughout my career, I have always considered myself an artist first and a designer-goldsmith second.

Portrait of the founder of Invidiosa Jewelry, Tessa, while wearing red boots, jeans, and a sheer red top all accompanied by bespoke earrings, necklaces, and rings that she handcrafted in her Toronto studio.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to draw and paint.

As a child, I was always sketching, often sitting in my parents’ wild country garden drawing the local flora and fauna, or imagining far away landscapes and seascapes. Anything and everything from the natural world fascinated me. My parents quickly noticed this budding talent and enrolled me in specialty art classes. I went on to study Studio Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, where I fell in love with oil painting, life drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and art history.

Portrait of the founder of Invidiosa Jewelry, Tessa, while wearing red boots, jeans, and a sheer red top all accompanied by bespoke earrings, necklaces, and rings that she handcrafted in her Toronto studio.

Woman painting while wearing a blue gemstone bespoke engagement ring surrounded by a three-quarter halo of small diamonds and gemstones set on a gold band. Ring was designed by Invidiosa Jewellery.

After completing my Fine Arts degree, I went searching for new and exciting mediums to transform my passions into physical creations.

I decided to spend an afternoon with my late uncle, Larry, who crafted stainless steel rings by hand in a studio in his friend's garage. While Larry had no formal jewelry training, he made up for it with a keen eye for design and an unmatched ability to transform raw materials such as scrap metal pipes and old nuts and bolts into refined and unique jewelry pieces. After that day, I was completely transfixed.

Woman painting while wearing a blue gemstone bespoke engagement ring surrounded by a three-quarter halo of small diamonds and gemstones set on a gold band. Ring was designed by Invidiosa Jewellery.

Founder of Invidiosa Jewellery, sketching custom jewellery designs while wearing bespoke rings, necklaces, and earrings that she handcrafted and designed in her Toronto studio

I began taking classes at the École de Joaillerie de Montréal, where I spent four years honing my skills and absorbing as much knowledge as possible before relocating to Toronto.

In 2019, I established my business and launched Invidiosa Jewelry. That same year, I became an in-house artist at Made You Look, a much-celebrated, independent jewelry boutique, which houses over 20 on-site goldsmiths and showcases the work of over 100 Canadian designers.

Founder of Invidiosa Jewellery, sketching custom jewellery designs while wearing bespoke rings, necklaces, and earrings that she handcrafted and designed in her Toronto studio

I now spend most of my time designing and creating imaginative and one-of-a-kind wedding and engagement jewelry.

My newest collections are strongly influenced by my fine arts background. The brand new “Painter’s Palette” collection showcases clusters of colorful sapphires resembling oil paints on a master’s palette.

Portrait of founder of Invidiosa Jewellery, Tessa, in a black dress while lounging on a white couch in an estate-style room with a marble bust behind her. Tessa is wearing bespoke hand-crafted rings and earrings.

My “Radiant Waves” series is inspired by J.W. Turner’s awe-inspiring canvases of tumultuous seascapes.

These rings are sculptural, full of movement, and capture a singular moment in time: the beauty of ocean waves catching the sun. I utilize a combination of time-honoured goldsmithing techniques (wax-carving and lost wax-casting) along with modern technology (3D CAD renderings) to transform my lofty drawings into physical art objects.

Portrait of founder of Invidiosa Jewellery, Tessa, in a black dress while lounging on a white couch in an estate-style room with a marble bust behind her. Tessa is wearing bespoke hand-crafted rings and earrings.

Women's hands tying the back of a beige skirt while wearing two bespoke engagement rings with pink and purple gemstones in the middle, surrounded by a halo of diamonds on a gold band

While sketching out vivacious new designs and bringing them to life in gold and gemstones is a literal dream come true, my absolute favorite part of this job is getting to meet and work closely with clients to help bring their jewelry dreams to life.

I feel incredibly lucky to be trusted to create jewelry that is infused with so much love and emotion. From engagement rings and wedding bands to memorial pieces and family birthstone jewelry, it is truly the honour of my life to craft high quality future heirlooms that will be cherished for generations. 

Women's hands tying the back of a beige skirt while wearing two bespoke engagement rings with pink and purple gemstones in the middle, surrounded by a halo of diamonds on a gold band

Launched in 2019, Invidiosa Jewelry takes its name from the bewitching Pre-Raphaelite painting, Circe Invidiosa (1892), by John William Waterhouse.

Launched in 2019, Invidiosa Jewelry takes its name from the bewitching Pre-Raphaelite painting, Circe Invidiosa (1892), by John William Waterhouse.

The painting features the sorceress Circe, half-hovering, half-balanced, on top of a sea creature in a dark and murky grotto. Circe pours a luminous turquoise potion into the pool, a poisonous concoction intended to transform Scylla, Circe's romantic rival, into a terrifying and grotesque monster.

The viewer's attention is fixed entirely on Circe. Her beauty is not docile or delicate, but born of an intensity and focus that draws the viewer into her enchanting and dangerous world.

Through Invidiosa, I strive to create wearable art through the process of jewelry-making that captures the same allure and mystique of its namesake. Invidiosa's aim is to design distinctive jewelry with an elegant mix of nature, romance and a little bit of magic.

No woman is an island, but some are peninsulas.

Detail shot of a brunette woman from behind showing the velvet ribbon necklace, a pearl necklace, and bespoke pearl earrings. All designed and handcrafted in Toronto by Invidiosa Jewellery.
Brunette woman in a beige linen dress posing for a fine art portrait with her hands clasped in her lap, wearing four bespoke rings, a golden bracelet, and two bespoke necklaces by Invidiosa Jewellery.

I take great pride in working with some of the top jewelry professionals in Toronto to help transform my dreamy drawings into tangible, wearable pieces of art.

Running an independent jewelry brand is a labour of love, and I do a lot of that labour myself. That labour includes much of the designing and production side of things: handling technical sketches, stone sourcing, wax carving, casting clean-up, and final polishing – as well as the more functional business practices: running social media, answering emails, packaging and shipping out orders, and running errands in the jewelry district. I even do a lot of my own product photography! That being said, I do have help! I work closely with an incredibly talented stone setter, Sabrina Melendez, who I would literally trust with my life. Sometimes that’s how it feels handing over a rush setting job with a client’s one-of-a-kind heirloom stone! I also have help with CAD. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m no computer wiz, which is why I employ the most technically savvy CAD designer, Victor Mok, who ensures that my fanciful designs are grounded in reality. With the help of Sabrina and Victor, I am able to deliver otherworldly designs with structural integrity that can be worn and loved every day.

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