Our Story
From Constantinople to the Land of Orange...
I inherited my spirit from my ancestors. The story of my lineage began in the Balkans, before its paths eventually led to Constantinople. I do not know what my grandfather felt when he boarded that ship in Constanta. Yet I imagine that, when he first saw the Bosphorus, he must have been every bit as enchanted as I was. My roots reach back to an Aegean city in western Türkiye.
My spirit was shaped within a culture scented with lemons, salt, and the sea...
FROM TWO SOULS TO “THE ONE”
SEPTEMBER 11, 2021
ISTANBUL
Then, one day, my own heart found its way to Istanbul. Istanbul… How many eras, how many people, how many cultures have been born from your heart? How many stories have you welcomed upon your ancient soil? And one day, I too became a guest in those timeless lands. We grow in the place where we are born, but we are born again in the places where we truly live. In my country, my eyes witnessed the traces of countless civilizations, stretching from Mesopotamia to Rome, and from Rome to the Ottoman Empire. Each had its own understanding of art, life, and time. Each spoke through a different language, a different beauty, and a different way of telling its story. I was shaped among all these differences, and in Istanbul, I was born again. I do not know from which ancestor I inherited it, but for as long as I can remember, I have carried within me the desire to create. I have always loved shaping things with my hands, making visible what once existed only in my imagination, and giving form to silent thoughts. And so, my story began.
Along the path of that story, I encountered another soul. A soul that completed my own. Another child of Mother Earth. When the day came for us to unite our paths, it was also time to choose the accessory that would accompany me. I had always believed that anything I could see, I could create. Yet I could not find the one piece that would truly complete my spirit. No one understood the language I spoke except my soulmate. And it was my soulmate who found the piece that would continue to shine back at me from my wedding photographs for years to come. Until that day, I had designed countless things in my workshop. Yet creating a bridal accessory for myself had never crossed my mind. It was only after my own wedding that I understood: that piece had never been merely an accessory. It was the witness of a moment. It was what remained after time had passed. Whenever I looked at the crown my soulmate had given me, I saw the light of that day once more. And then, one day, I decided to learn the language of other brides—to listen to their spirits and give form, with my own hands, to the dreams they could not quite put into words. And so, I began to experiment. At that very moment, these two souls who had found one another within the crowds of Istanbul made another decision. They would move far away from home. They longed to see new worlds, discover new cultures, and be born again within unfamiliar stories. They considered many countries and many possibilities. They talked, debated, dreamed, and wondered. At last, they made their choice. They would move to the land once known by their ancestors as the Land of Orange: the Netherlands. And then came the Netherlands… The ancient legacy of Pergamon, whose ruins have stood for centuries near İzmir, the Aegean city where I grew up, became my inspiration. Upon Gaia’s earth, on the other side of the world yet beneath the same sky, the story of Bergama began anew in Amsterdam, a city in the Land of Orange. As a tribute to my own roots… And as a dedication to every woman who carries within her the ancient spirit of creation… We are here now to help each of you discover the piece that has always been waiting within your soul.
