Karla Mertens grew up among the stones and jewels in her parents’ jewellery store. She went to Antwerp to follow ahigher education as a Jewellery Designer and Goldsmith in the Sint-Lukas Pavilion. (Karel de Grote Hogeschool). In 1996 she started her own unique business with a workshop atelier in the heart of Leuven. She had already developeda broad interest in stones, architecture, alternative healing and mysticism, but in the beginning her focus was mainly on aesthetic classic and design jewellery.
Gradually, she follows her passions and finds the unquenchable courage to walk her own path. Inspired by her long journeys and the special people she meets / encounters along the way, she immerses herself over the years in the wonderful world of crystals and energetic healing such as Reiki. She follows additional courses on the power of gemstones, sacred geometry and symbols. Apart from this, she continues to receive technical training, which means that multiple techniques shape her designs.
The cumulative effort of all this has made Karla Mertens into the jewellery designer she is today. Pure and inspiring. Her intuition is her greatest strength. Nature, sacred symbols & geometry, many derived from ancient cultures and traditions, remain her biggest inspiration. From her own workshop, she makes her pieces by hand. She combines elegant design with the powerful energies of the stones- and metals. How Karla Mertens works, is to connect the scientific, creative and energetic, sacred worlds; and to divert them into one.
