Africa At Heart
The Genesis
"I love Africa. I was born here in Côte d'Ivoire. When there was nothing like it, I wanted to create an African jewelry brand that could benefit from the best craftsmanship and the highest quality standards."
Didier Constant, who heads West Africa's most famous jewelry and watchmaking businesses, launched his own brand AC by AC in 2013. The acronym stands for "African Creative by A. Constant." The brand features memorable collections - exclusively crafted from 18-carat gold, diamonds, and precious stones - where traditional themes from this telluric land are reinterpreted for the 21st century. "African heritage, which comprises magnificent nature, myths, beliefs, and an art spanning more than a millennium, has always been part of my life. AC by AC is a celebration, a way for me to pay tribute to this continent where I was born," Didier Constant continues. "And to place Africa on the jewelry chessboard where it didn't appear before, while guaranteeing our customers optimal craftsmanship."
A bold bias
"Each of our lines highlights an organic, artistic, historical, or symbolic aspect of this land. The magic of jewelry is to transform them into pieces whose evocative power is immediate, whether one is born in Africa or elsewhere."
Childhood and femininity re-emerge in contact with the Ashanti doll. The pure and graphic beauty of Nature is reinterpreted in the Sandola and Cauri collections; the very essence of Africa appears in the Origine and Elephants jewelry; while African art is expressed through the Acalata masks and Adinkra symbols. The proposal is unique and innovative. The jewelry is singular. AC by AC: the signature of an authentic Ivorian jeweler.
Meeting: Didier Constant
"I was walking on a beach in Assinie when I took a closer look at the sand dollars washed up on the shore, which are emblematic of our coastline. The powerful evocative nature of this small sea urchin skeleton, both fragile and mysterious, convinced me to use it as a symbol."
This is how AC by AC's first piece of jewelry was created in 2013, in the form of a Sandola pendant.
