The Founder

“I set my heart and creativity on honouring and bringing to the forefront of our clientele’s minds the African countries and communities where the gemstones we use come from. I believe it is my purpose to pay tribute to the very heart of my motherland: Africa.

Since 2012 we have been leading the way for a new era of mindful, sustainable and engaged luxury.”

– Vania Leles, Founder

Vania Leles was born and raised in Guinea Bissau and educated between Lisbon and London. Her 19 year career in high jewellery took her to Paris, New York, and finally to London where she has been living for the last 24 years with her family.

After graduating from the Gemological Institute of America and honing her craft at Graff, De Beers and Sotheby’s, Vania launched VANLELES Diamonds in 2015 from her atelier in Mayfair, London.

Vania’s mission is to bring the voice of her motherland, the African continent, to fine jewellery. This vision, combined with her unique and bold style, has helped her to become one of the world’s most respected jewellery designers.

In 2022, Sotheby’s dedicated a solo exhibition to VANLELES for over 6 weeks. Today Vania Leles’ jewellery creations are regularly featured in the world’s top magazines and dress some of the most powerful and fashionable women in the world, including HRH Catherine, Princess of Wales, Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and Rihanna to name a few.

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The Brand

THE WORLD’S 1st AFRICAN HIGH JEWELLERY BRAND.

The ultimate fusion of African precious materials and global influences.

Modern, elegant and transcultural designs inspired by Vania’s heritage and world travels - are infused with vibrant, colourful gemstones and the purest natural diamonds.

Profound commitment to mindful sourcing is the driving ethos behind her magnificent jewellery creations.

THIS IS LUXURY FOR A MODERN, CARING WORLD.

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Our London Showroom

By appointment only.

Located on London’s prestigious Brook Street, the flagship atelier provides an inspiring backdrop in a showroom that houses truly unique jewellery.

A plush and intimate enclave nestled in the heart of London’s fine jewellery district, it’s the perfect environment to discover a rare piece showcased in one of the VANLELES collections, or work with Vania and her talented team to create one-of-a kind jewel.

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“The true beauty and highest value of jewellery shouldn’t start at the shop floor. It should start where it all began, and for me that’s at the community level. My intention has always been to bring the voice of Africa to fine jewellery, and part of this is ensuring that, where possible, I source gems from Africa and mines that adhere to environmental and human rights, as well as pay local taxes and treat miners decently with fair wages.”

- Vania Leles, Creative Director & Founder

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For Vania Leles, VANLELES is inextricably linked to her African heritage and the continent’s biggest offering to the world, its people. As a result, VANLELES carries at its heart the philosophy of community, compassion and empowerment.

VANLELES is a proud supporter the Malaika Foundation, a charity seeking to empower Congolese girls and their communities through education and health programs. VANLELES has donated school materials and clothes for the students, and to this day still supports two girls via the Malaika Foundation, Eugenie Kaya and Colette Kamimbi (the two girls with Vania).

In addition, she has created ‘Out of Africa’, a one-of-a-kind high-end jewellery collection crafted solely from responsibly sourced rubies and rubellite from Mozambique. Vania has also created ‘Legends of Africa’ – a unique high jewellery collection that pays homage to her homeland. The Sahara collection, a fair-trade gold and ethical diamond collection, was created in support of Women for Women International in 2017-2018.

During COVID-19, VANLELES took part in different initiatives to help and support African communities.

AfroChampions Initiative, under the auspices of the African Union Organization, was launched to provide a sustainable response to the pandemic across the continent. It set out to pool critical resources urgently needed for the procurement of medical supplies and commodities as well as providing socio-economic support to the most vulnerable populations in Africa. VANLELES contributed to this great cause by donating 30% of sales across all collections to the African Union COVID-19 Fund.

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Malaika Foundation, has provided the Kabeluka village with clean water, educational facilities and programmes for the past 13 years. In doing so, it has touched more than a thousand lives each year and we hope that our continued support will bring awareness and additional funding at this time. During Covid-19 Malaika Foundation saw donations plummet, making it hard to sustain its mission to continue educating 346 girls while also feeding their families. This is why VANLELES pledged to donate 100% of the proceeds from our Nile Collection to the Malaika Foundation, from April 15th 2020 to June 15th 2020.

Ethical Diamonds

As an African who has traveled extensively all over the continent, Vania is acutely aware of the importance of ethical diamond trading.

VANLELES adheres to a strict policy of using only diamonds from suppliers that comply with the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), a monitoring scheme which guarantees that diamonds do not come from conflict areas or illegitimate sources.

VANLELES operates under the principle that it is possible to source beautiful quality diamonds and create exquisite pieces of jewellery whilst adhering to strong moral and ethical codes.

Southern Africa supplies sixty-five percent of the world’s gem-quality diamonds and most of the suppliers to VANLELES mine in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. The $8.4 billion generated by the legal trading of African diamonds now helps to pay for the education, healthcare, clean water and food for millions of people in these regions.

Diamonds can change the lives of more than just the wearer if sourced ethically and VANLELES is committed to ensuring that all diamonds are 100% conflict-free.

Certification

All VANLELES’ diamonds are certified by the most respected laboratories in the diamond industry, known for their consistency and unbiased grading systems. A diamond certificate is a report created by a team of experts, in which the diamond is graded, measured, and scrutinised by trained gemologists. The certificate includes an in-depth analysis of the diamond’s dimensions, clarity, colour, polish, symmetry, and other characteristics. During consultation we will always show our clients the certificates of their chosen diamonds.

It is often a challenge to find just the right diamond at a great price. At VANLELES our experts strive to find diamonds with exceptional sparkle, light and fire at the most competitive prices. To achieve this, we look not just at the conventional requirements of cut, clarity, carat and colour, but we hand pick our diamonds also for their excellent polish and symmetry.