Emma Roig Askari, a journalist, author, art collector, and ambassador for Christie’s, blends a wide range of influences in her approach to jewellery, combining historical significance with personal narrative and a playful sense of style. Born in Valencia, Spain, Roig Askari studied at Complutense University of Madrid and earned a Master of Arts from New York University as a Fulbright scholar. Her journalism career includes work at El País, CNN, Reuters, CBS, and Vanity Fair Spain. She divides her time among London, Madrid, and Ibiza.
Roig Askari’s perspective on jewellery emphasizes meaning and connection over mere aesthetics. She is critical of what she describes as “empty jewellery,” favoring pieces imbued with personal associations. Her interest in jewellery intersects with her appreciation of art and culture, drawing inspiration across diverse fields, from Spanish goldsmiths to literary figures like Camilo José Cela. She recalls attending a papal mass alongside a Bad Bunny concert in a single day, exemplifying her eclectic taste and the idea that “the eye has to travel.”
Her collection includes works by Spanish jewellers such as Luz Camino, whom she discovered at the Hispanic Society Museum in New York. Camino’s designs, influenced by the light-filled paintings of Valencian artist Joaquín Sorolla, appear in Roig Askari’s translucent enamel earrings adorned with diamonds and tanzanites. Similarly, she incorporates family history into her collection, notably through a piece by Valencian jeweller Pepa de la Concepción, who transformed an antique artichoke brooch belonging to Roig Askari’s grandmother into a Hindu-inspired cuff.
Mixing styles and eras is central to Roig Askari’s philosophy. She combines silver charms representing Tanit, the ancient goddess of Ibiza, with miniature gold matador jackets and other symbolic talismans into chokers she describes as embodying “imperfect perfection.” Among these are a Brazilian fertility figure adorned with jewels, a Georgian gold seal evoking London, an “E” pendant inspired by Anne Boleyn’s iconic necklace, and a medallion featuring a dragon protecting a maiden, inherited from her great-grandmother. Antique Venetian amber beads punctuate these layered compositions.
Her collecting habits reflect careful research into the historical and symbolic meanings of each piece. Roig Askari credits her mother, Manuela Segarra, founder of the Zeta Gallery in Valencia, with fostering her love for art and the value of beauty beyond monetary worth. She purchased a mid-20th-century Lily of the Valley brooch featuring emeralds and blue diamonds at auction in Madrid; the design evoked the bouquet she carried at her wedding at London’s Natural History Museum nearly three decades earlier.
Jewellery also figures into Roig Askari’s personal milestones. For her wedding anniversary, her husband commissioned a “Moon” ring from James de Givenchy’s Taffin house—a diamond crescent set with a cabochon-cut stone symbolizing Roig Askari as the Sun, complemented by black ceramic. This intimate symbolism underscores her belief that adornment fulfills a cultural and emotional role across civilizations, describing it as both a “need” and a choice.
Among other pieces is a dragonfly brooch crafted by jeweller Bienvenido Asensi, Roig Askari’s brother-in-law. She studied the motif’s association with transformation, light, and hope before commissioning the piece, illustrating her methodical yet intuitive approach to collecting. She sources jewellery from diverse outlets, including auction houses, galleries such as Louisa Guinness in London, and bespoke commissions, embodying her ethos of mixing high and low to create deeply meaningful adornment.