About Us
The third-generation member of a distinguished jeweler family from Istanbul, Fatma Altınbaş inherited her family’s love and admiration for precious stones and the craftsmanship which turn these stones into priceless pieces of art. Gaining acclaim for their meticulous workmanship, her family founded two of Turkey’s largest jewellery brands.
Since its foundation in 1977, Altınbaş Jewellery expanded into a world-renowned corporation with 270 retail stores all around Turkey, Cyprus, Ukraine and Albania. Cultivating this long heritage into a long and successful career in jewellery, Altınbaş took her legacy one step further by entering the academia to better understand the journey and significance of jewels, particularly ones that have deep roots in our history.
She received an education on precious stones at GIA diamond grading company in London, and had her PhD degree in anthropology at Yeditepe University. She focused her studies on the craftsmen of Grand Bazaar and the last heirs of Grand Bazaar’s cultural wealth. After a two-year research process, she wrote “The Stones of Grand Bazaar”, in which she told the story of artisans and the 500-year-old Grand Bazaar tradition. After exploring the world of these artisans and their craftsmanship, Altınbaş founded MEVÁRIS, a fine jewellery brand whose name means “heritage” in Ottoman.
Through this brand and its unique collections, Altınbaş aims at reinterpreting the Grand Bazaar’s traditional heritage in a modern way and re-introducing the handmade jewels of the masters on a global platform. Since precious stones have been such a big part of her heritage, Altınbaş sees jewellery not just as a piece of adornment but as a legacy which can be passed on from grandmother to grandchildren through generations.
Her first collection, “MEVÁRIS Heritage” was a nod to the jewellery tradition of the Grand Bazaar and as such diamonds were predominantly featured in this collection of 28 unique handmade jewelleries. Her following collections, “MEVÁRIS Moonlight” and “MEVÁRIS Modern”, reveal a more casual and contemporary interpretation of her heritage concept. Like MEVÁRIS Heritage, they are timeless collections which can be passed on from generation to generation.