Hi, I'm Florinda
Hi, I'm glad you're reading this!
My name is Florinda and I make personalized handmade jewelry that is a little journey to wear !
My passion for contemporary jewelry was born occasionally during a trip to South Africa, in Cape Town with my Finnish friend Terhi, who was already passionate about jewelry. Thanks to Terhi I discovered that I had a hidden ability that had not yet been explored (and who knows how many we have and are not aware of it!).
So I started my journey as a hobby, but it soon became my greatest interest.
Until 2005 I had never seen or even imagined what my future would be in this new field because I came from a world very far from it, perhaps totally opposite.
I graduated in Oriental Languages and Civilizations with honors in 1998, at the Oriental University of Naples, and then, while all my friends went to London to continue their studies, I decided to leave for Tanzania , where I did a Master in Radio and Television Journalism at TSJ in Dar es Salaam.
During my adolescence I had in fact worked for a radio and I had always liked radio and television communication and I still am passionate about it.
So, I was saying, I moved to Dar es Salaam. During my master's degree, I wrote news reports for Dar es Salaam Television. I had a blast . I interviewed many important people, including the then President.
It is in Tanzania that my friends call me Maua, the Swahili name that is closest to Florinda!
From here Maua Design .
In 2001 I returned to Sicily and in Palermo I worked for the regional TG3 . I had a lot of fun there too! Unfortunately I didn't manage to pass the last journalism exam at the school in Perugia and after a few months of confusion I decided to accept a job offer with an NGO that sent me to Albania . I also spent some wonderful months in Tirana.
While I was in Tirana, I received a proposal from the United Nations that I accepted and so I left for Uganda . I worked in Kampala for 6 years in Development Cooperation . But since I can't stay still, in my free time I decided to study Gemology at the Gemological Institute of America, just... because I liked it .
So I became a gemologist, a gemstone professional.
It all started there. I decided that this would be the path I would take, and it ca n't be said without difficulty . Of course, I came from Development Cooperation, which wasn't an artistic sector at all!
I begin my journey among jewels, gems and precious stones . I study goldsmithing in Argentina , in Mendoza, where I lived for 4 years and in the meantime I graduate on diamonds in Chicago . In Florence I take the Diploma on pearls.
In Rome I took other goldsmith courses and graduated in coloured stones and then in general in Gemology at the GIA in London .
I left for Egypt in 2015. In Cairo, I learned other jewelry techniques at the famous Azza Fahmi school. In my four years in beautiful Cairo, I organized fashion shows and events and needless to say I had a lot of fun here too.
In 2020 I left for Malaysia, a bad year to discover a new country, but one that over time I loved . My jewels were on display in one of the most beautiful shopping centers in the city. My world was closed on the eighteenth floor of a skyscraper in the center of the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur where I wrote this page and after that many of my creations were born. Also in Kuala Lumpur I organized events also in collaboration with other artists.
Now I'm back in Italy, in Forlì. Come visit me in my living room!
This is why every Maua Design jewel is a little journey to wear, it is the expression of me and my experiences.
#travelingwithmauadesignthejewelryyouwear
Welcome and welcome to my crazy world
