Sriram “Ram” Natarajan is now GIA’s senior vice president of laboratory operations and is based out of the lab’s headquarters in Carlsbad.
Jewelry Brand to Know: Marlo Laz
The New York-based brand is multiculturally inspired, with a distinct joie de vivre.

New York--Looking at the jewelry by Marlo Laz, one would be hard pressed to guess the provenance of its creator.
There are pendants and earrings in vivid, unexpected color combinations of pink and blue, or pink and orange, reminiscent of India, heavy medallions that bring to mind baptismal medals, and French wording throughout that is etched across rings and sturdy metal cuffs.
Designer Jesse Lazowski hails, in fact, from Hartford, Connecticut, and now resides in New York, but has lived in Switzerland and France and traveled extensively, visually mining the planet for inspiration. Last year alone she visited 28 places in 12 countries.
“The Marlo Laz woman is both a citizen of the world and an absolutely curious traveler,” Lazowski explained. “(She’s) culturally conscious, a spontaneous bon vivant with a taste for the exotic and the extraordinary.”
Lazowski launched her brand in 2014, after returning to New York from Paris and studying jewelry design at the Gemological Institute of America. Marlo is her middle name and Laz is a shortening of her last name.
She credits her aunt, an antique jewelry dealer, for helping her cultivate a passion for jewels from the very beginning.
“She is a collector of unique finds who connects deeply with her possessions on an intellectual level,” Lazowski said.
Like the antique jewelry she studied as a child, Lazowski designs each of her pieces with the intent for it to be treasured and treated as an heirloom, passed down to future generations. Her pieces have a deliberate heft with much attention paid to quality.
The vibrant colors Lazowski employs are a reference to her travels, Jaipur and Mexico City in particular, with the former’s orange and pink colors becoming something of a Marlo Laz signature. “My color combinations are such an essential element of the designs,” she said.
The brand’s various medallions are inspired by coins Lazowski has picked up on her travels, and her versions of them function as good luck charms.
“The Lucky Talisman coin contains various symbols of good luck from different cultures--an evil eye from Turkey and the Middle East, an elephant from India, a four-leaf clover from Ireland, a horseshoe, heart and peace symbol. It reminds me of all the souks, bazaars, and marketplaces I’ve visited on my travels,” she explained.
J’e porte bonheur, or “I bring good luck” is inscribed across much of her
Marlo Laz retails from $350 to $11,000 and is being stocked at a slew of coveted retail accounts, including Five Story, Broken English and Bergdorf Goodman.
While the brand is young and still carving out its niche, Lazowski has a mature sense of its identity.
“The personal connection between the owner and her jewelry is what I think about first when I design,” she said.
For more information, visit MarloLaz.com.
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