PARIS – For most people, a trip to the dentist is a daunting prospect.

But for fine jeweler Nadine Ghosn, it was the start of her 10th jewelry collection, a lineup titled “Stay Fresh,” where oral care products dazzle.

There’s a healthy squeeze of toothpaste, its colorful lines of active ingredients turned into wavy stripes of princess-cut diamonds and Paraiba tourmalines, a new gem in her repertoire, for rings and earcuffs. In the pipeline are earrings inspired by single-use picks.

The biggest novelty is an articulated bracelet shaped like a toothbrush wrapped around the wrist, bristles akimbo as if already used. Over 60 hours were necessary to hand-wrap each strand and set it, for an asymmetric result. Handles are set with rubies or emeralds, a nod to the colorful detailing on the object.

The idea sprang from a selfie with Drake, in which the pair are seen grinning broadly. “We smiled so hard and I sent the picture to him, saying, ‘we look so happy,’” she said. “Then he goes, ‘We look like we just went to the dentist.’”  

While many won’t have fond memories of trips to get their oral care seen to – root canals and cavities, anyone? – Ghosn being Ghosn, it only twigged her imagination.

A toothbrush “symbolizes a routine activity that some find therapeutic and is one of the first and last things we come across daily,” said the designer, who habitually draws inspiration from everyday objects.

Plus, being first to give, say, a toothbrush the fine jewelry treatment, with a technical challenge to boot, is how she keeps ahead of the curve and would-be copiers.

“It’s obviously always a bit scary, touching on something that’s a bit hard to glamorize,” she continued. “The game was to glorify and embellish it in a way that brings more positive [connotations] and invites a smile when they see the collection.”

And since opinions may vary on toothpaste flavors, it gives her lots of room to play and invite her clients in.

Customization plays a big part in Ghosn’s designs – and her business.

“I like the notion of doing things differently but I also like to do them unique to a person’s aesthetic or story,” she said. “I like that the client becomes part of the storytelling and I don’t think a lot of brands can do that today.”

Already in her bestselling stacking burger ring, there was a choice of classic or vegetarian, and now, a heaping of caviar can be added, à la Hailey Bieber.

And of course, the label on her crayon design in collaboration with Crayola can be personalized, while different colors are represented by hard stone leads and bottoms. Bar the price difference between gemstones, there are no extra costs involved for the client.

It’s a win-win that’s played a large role in her brand’s growth.

Last year her business topped the $4 million sales mark. Despite a general slowdown of luxury from the pile-on of U.S. tariffs, geopolitical turmoil and macroeconomic headwinds, the company’s revenues are growing double-digit year-on-year so far in 2025. The brand’s repeat purchase rate is over 75 percent, the jeweler said.

She also credits one factor that’s helped her keep her 10-year-old business fresh – a mostly direct-to-consumer model.

While early years saw her retailing at the likes of Colette, Le Bon Marché and Bergdorf Goodman, it’s recently been rarer to see her work in display cases.

These days, between 90 and 95 percent of her pieces are directly sold through trunk-show style events and even the odd DM on social media.

And in this economy, not having stock out on consignment is an asset for an independent jeweler without the means to hedge gold, as the mega brands in Place Vendôme might do.

That said, Ghosn continues to work with retailers that she considers powerful prescriptors whose clientele has affinity with her world for short-term retail residencies. Over the past 12 months she has popped up at Dover Street Market in London and at upscale boutique Hirschleifers, in Manhasset, NY.

These have been an overall fruitful experience, including generating long-tail sales once on-site inventory ran out.

Still, Ghosn “doesn’t necessarily believe in the whole retail platform,” she said. “I firmly believe that putting a middleman slows down a lot of the processes and makes it less intimate between the designer and client.”

Proximity, along with a knack for tongue-in-cheek designs, is also how she formed lasting relationships with a cadre of bold-faced names that these days includes Drake, Lil Yachty and Justin Bieber, most recently spotted wearing a succession of diamond-studded earrings by Ghosn.

“Keeping my autonomy is to preserve that creative spark and take risks, be bolder but also hopefully be celebrated for taking those risks,” she said. “I stay true to building boldly on something that really sparks creativity, joy and brings that kind of childhood curiosity back to the table, at least in the fine jewelry space.”