The Signature World of Petra Berends

At PB Design, every handcrafted jewel tells a personal story

Petra Berends is a prominent Dutch goldsmith and jewelry designer based in Haarlem, Netherlands. She is the founder and owner of Juwelier Goudsmederij Petra Berends, where she specializes in handcrafted, custom-made jewelry through her own brand, PB Design. Overall, Petra Berends is known for translating personal emotions and inspirations into unique jewelry pieces. Her work often features precious metals, diamonds, and colored gemstones. She has appeared on television programs such as SBS6’s “We Love to Shop” and RTL 4’s “Dit is Holland”, where she showcases her creative process and studio.

IRK: Your PB-Design pieces celebrate the beauty of the handmade. What first drew you to incorporating artisanal craftsmanship into your design language and why is this language important to you as a designer? 

Petra Berends: I started designing and making jewelry because every person is unique and deserves a handmade piece of jewelry that suits their personality.  My design language is pure craftsmanship, old school style with modern input, which I combine with precious metals, gemstones & diamonds.  

The maker’s eye and the master’s hand determine every millimeter of the jewel, and this creates unique pieces, each with its own personality and allure. As a result, we handcraft amazing design jewellery for everybody, fitting their personality and making them feel special, beautiful, confident, and happy.  

IRK: What is your favorite aspect of ‘touch’ that you aim to highlight in your design practice and why? 

Petra Berends: I have a desire to create beauty and joy, reflected in bold, luxurious jewelry in exceptionally beautiful colors. I love shapes and their lines, and I love colors. Sometimes contrasting or enhancing, sometimes incoherent and repetitive. Sometimes plain, sometimes exuberant, sometimes combined. Making the design unique, personal and interesting. Therefore, we are well known for using color, shapes, and unique high-quality designs. Our message, or touch: Be your bold beautiful self & show your colors! 

IRK: How has your connection to handcraft evolved over time? 

Petra Berends: As a master goldsmith and designer, you evolve over time. Indeed, I believe in craftsmanship, in all its glory. After a while, I decided to minimize limiting external factors. This makes me independent and gives me the possibility to experiment and develop. This freedom in design allows me to realize my creative vision in jewelry design. By doing so I continue to develop myself every day. It’s a lifelong learning process, which is exciting, inspiring and rewarding. 

IRK: Your designs feature traditional handcrafted details that feel deeply personal — how do you balance honoring those artisanal traditions while bringing a modern design sensibility to your pieces?

Petra Berends: I’m always connecting with my design, immaterially, emotionally and materially. My craftsmanship literally makes me touch my design, expressing myself with techniques, shapes and colors. Implementing my inspiration, also from contemporary topics, adds a modern design sensibility.  This also reflects in the pieces of your shoot, in which we have used classic techniques in a modern way. Using shapes and color as a story. 

The Spark shapes and their open contours symbolize a future still to be shaped and filled in. For instance, white for innocence and a new beginning. Yellow for energy and vitality. Gold & silver represent intuition. The stars represent moments of courage and energy, while the color gradient symbolizes the transition to a new phase, in all its vulnerability and subtlety. In this design silver represents balance and self-reflection. 

IRK: In an age of mass production, speed, and fast fashion, you’ve chosen to intentionally slow things down and step away from the fashion zeitgeist. What do you feel your intentionality of handcraft brings to your wearer’s experience? 

Petra Berends: Mass production can’t reflect someone’s individual personality. Instead of mass production, I’m inspired by economic-, environmental- and social sustainability, wearability and pure craftsmanship. When a piece of jewelry is specifically designed and handmade for someone, it will be cherished. By involving the wearer in the design process, it becomes their own, a part of their personality. It also gives me the opportunity to get to know the wearer: this allows me to tailor the design, color, and wearability specifically to them. 

It is an experience for both the wearer and the designer, a journey to a unique piece of jewelry, a human connection in a time when mass production is becoming increasingly common. This kind of jewelry carries memories, embodies high quality and craftsmanship, and tells a story. In other words, we make it with care and love, and people often pass it on, making it timeless.

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© Image Courtesy of PB Design