By Shannon Adducci
Karolina Kurkova wears Bulgari white gold Maltese flower sapphire cabochon ear clips from Yafa on the cover of the Spring issue of Bal Harbour Magazine. Photo By Andres Oyuela; styling by Christopher Campbell.
Cartier’s emerald-eyed Panthère. Bulgari’s slinky Serpenti. Van Cleef & Arpels’ Mystery Set rubies. There are many motifs, gemstones, and designs that make up the holy grail of jewelry collecting. All are in regular rotation at Yafa, which this month opened its doors at Bal Harbour Shops, offering an expert, multi-brand approach to high-level jewelry acquisition.
Inside the new Bal Harbour Shops Level Two boutique. Photo by Moris Moreno.
“It’s really about one word: iconic,” says Chris Del Gatto, a partner at the brand. “That’s what drives collectors. It’s similar to the art world.”
It is these notable signed pieces—Yafa’s specialty—that are often seen as some of the most reliable investments. Vintage pieces from important brands carry and build value, as do high-quality diamonds. The company handles both, the latter through their own vertically integrated diamond cutting centers in New York and Dubai, and sourcing offices in Botswana, Johannesburg, Antwerp, and Cape Town. “It’s incredibly rare for a company of our size to be so close to the source,” says Del Gatto.
Maurice Moradof, founder and CEO, with his son, Tyler, the family-run company’s third generation and principal at Yafa.
The brand’s expertise comes from three generations, starting with Yafa Moradof, the matriarch who started as a jewelry purveyor in New York in 1985 with the help of her son, Maurice, the company’s CEO. By focusing on the best examples of iconic designs from major jewelry houses, Yafa quickly established a reputation as a go-to for museum-quality pieces.
After decades working in wholesale and with private clients, Yafa turned to retail in 2020 with the opening of their first store, in Palm Beach, bringing on Maurice’s son, Tyler, as a principal.
Karolina Kurkova wears a Carolina Herrera gown; Aquazzura Poème sandals, and a David Webb necklace, available at Yafa.
“Our target client is the educated consumer,” says Moradof. “There is a community of people that appreciate and understand our tagline, of finding the unfindable.”
The new Bal Harbour shop will be appointed in the brand’s signature interiors of polished wood, travertine, its own Pantone shade of blue (HEX #003157, to be precise), and Art Deco accents that nod to Miami’s architectural legacy. After walking through the shop’s glass vitrines and perhaps leafing through a book on vintage Van Cleef & Arpels or Harry Winston, clients are guided through Yafa’s global inventory by trusted advisors, who will take notes of the types of brands, designs, gemstones, and other details that pique their interest, what they’re searching for now, and the collecting goals they may have for the future.
“We want our clients to be able to look back and see that we were with them each step of the way in their collecting process,” says Moradof. “We’re offering people the opportunity to really build a collection that they can be very proud of.”
