Evil eyes and clovers are just some of the symbols in the Kismet by Milka collection.
In 2009 Milka Karaagacli was working as a client services director in the Istanbul office of the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, handling accounts such as Vodafone and the hair care brand Sunsilk.
But then “I started questioning my life and my future,” she said in a recent phone interview. In her spare time, Ms. Karaagacli — who has been known as Milka Karaagacli Ince since her marriage in 2013 — began designing jewelry and bringing her sketches to Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar to be produced.
When about 70 items were completed, she went to London and sold them in a series of trunk shows at friends’ apartments. The collection, which she called Kismet — Jewelry & Fate, sold out. Within six months, she had left advertising to focus on her brand, renamed Kismet by Milka.
But, she said, she found that her work experience has been helpful: “I knew how to create a brand because in advertising, too, you are solving a brand’s problems in a visual way.”
Kismet by Milka’s designs are made mostly by hand in the brand’s headquarters in the Sisli area of Istanbul, about eight miles northeast of the Grand Bazaar. Much of the line includes talismans — pieces that many wearers believe offer protection or empowerment. There are, for example, collections with names such as Fearless, Protect Me, Victory and Lucky One, and designs that incorporate symbols such as evil eyes, phoenixes, lions, feathers and clovers. The reason for offering items along those lines is simple, Ms. Karaagacli Ince said: “I believe in them.”
Prices in the brand’s main collection range from 3,250 Turkish lira ($68) for a single 14-karat gold triangular stud earring with a minuscule center diamond to 1.4 million lira for an 18-karat gold piece with 3.76 carats of pavé diamonds that could be worn as a bracelet or a necklace. Diamonds are prevalent throughout the collection, on pieces such as a star pendant that comes in a few sizes, including an extra-large version (728,750 lira), a four-row gold band ring (346,250 lira) and a thick gold and pavé diamond ear cuff (168,750 lira).
