“Opening in a global city like Los Angeles has always been a wonderful dream,” said Margot McKinney.

The Australian jewelry designer has brought her namesake brand to The Peninsula Beverly Hills, the five-star hotel at the intersection of Wilshire and South Santa Monica boulevards. It marks Margot McKinney’s first independent boutique outside of its flagship in Brisbane, Australia. 

The shop in Beverly Hills, a 180-square-foot jewel box, is located around the corner from the hotel lobby.

“When this opportunity arose at The Peninsula, I was so excited, because The Peninsula is really the right place for us to be,” she continued. “They have the same family values.”

A fourth generation of the McKinney family, her great-grandfather, John, established the business in Toowoomba, Queensland, as a tobacconist and retailer of imported goods. The second generation brought fine merchandise into the shop, including pearls from Japan, and grew it into a successful department store that offered fine jewelry.

Margot McKinney has carried that heritage forward and shaped a brand that’s known for its bold and nature-inspired designs blending opals, pearls and colorful gemstones, sold at retailers including Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

“The jewelry that we have is really very special,” said McKinney. “Australia produces the finest pearls in the world. We have the most beautiful opals. We’re now a fifth-generation business — it’s 141 years old — and we have amazing relationships with the finest gem cutters in the world. And I really am a firm believer that every business is about relationships.”

She works with the likes of Paul-Otto Caesar, a gem cutter in Germany; Aji Ellies, a pearl farmer in Australia and Peter Gregory Sherman, an opal miner in Australia — all fifth-generation businesses.

“Most of the opals that I use are from last century,” she went on. “They were mined in the 1960s and 1970s. And it’s because Peter has these incredible relationships with old miners and old families that I’m able to design with these incredible gemstones.”

The shop at The Peninsula showcases collections of vibrant statement stones, priced around $20,000 for pearl earrings to several million dollars for pieces crafted with rare gems. A standout is the Marina necklace, which debuted at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair in the Netherlands, a 241.14-carat cushion-cut green beryl with a baroque pearl suspended from a 65.72-carat aquamarine gemstone, and set with an arrangement of green tourmaline, diamonds, baroque South Sea pearls, sapphires, aquamarines, paraibas and tsavorites.

The walls are covered in teal chinoiserie-inspired wallpaper with botanical and exotic bird motifs, while the cabinetry and trim feature McKinney’s signature Kelly Green. An antique wooden desk sits to the side, paired with leopard-print chairs.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” she said of landing in Beverly Hills. “And I think business is all about, when an opportunity presents itself, saying, ‘Yes, I’m going to take it.’”

Of what’s next, McKinney added: “I’m always thinking about my collectors and matching beautiful pieces of jewelry with happy families. That’s what I love doing.”