In 1987, Martine Hul was living in Antwerp as a student studying physiotherapy when she began working at Louis Reichman’s famous jewelry store, Juweel Design Barucci. It wasn’t long before she was promoted to full-time employee and given the highly coveted task of going to trade fairs to select jewelry for the store. The story goes that on her first trip, Hul returned with a collection that shocked Reichman and he demanded to know who would buy it. By the end of the day, every last item Hul selected had sold.
Not long after that, Hul began trying her hand at designing her own jewelry. In 2000, she left her mark in the world of jewelry design when she created earrings with lines of pavé stones. This technique, which uses smaller and therefore less costly stones, allowed her to experiment with different designs while keeping costs low; she also introduced a new, younger audience to diamond jewelry while giving them the ability to choose how many rows of diamonds they wanted.