Sister Synergy: Candy and Janina Dizon on translating memory and passion into fine jewels

Sisters Candy and Janina Dizon are the proud custodians of an intergenerational legacy, inheriting the craft from their grandmother, Paz Bañas, who owned a fine jewelry shop in Bambang, and their mother, Jul B. Dizon who established her business in 1978It is a rare and beautiful thing to be able to take the ephemeral, and transform it into something tangible and even eternal. Be it promises of forever expressed in diamond rings, or the gradient colors of nature captured in pavés of precious stones, jewelers Candy and Janina Dizon have made an art of bringing intangible beauty from the realm of thoughts and emotions into the tactile world.

The sisters are the proud custodians of an intergenerational legacy. Their mother, Jul B. Dizon, was an award-winning jeweler, having inherited the craft from their grandmother who had a shop of fine jewels in Bambang. And on top of this, Janina shares, their grandfather was an architect, while two of her aunts were also jewelers. “I would say design is in our blood,” she declares.

Growing up in a world surrounded with gemstones and gold, training for the sisters started early. Candy recalls that at around six or seven, they’d already be asked to put the jewelry back into the vault, or to clean the glass counters after a client’s visit. “I didn’t particularly enjoy doing it, but my Mom was strict so we had no choice,” she recalls. “I do, however, appreciate her strict ways now that I am running my own shop. It’s exactly what every child needs to acquire discipline in work and in life.”

Janina, her grandmother, Paz Bañas and mother, Jul B. Dizon

Janina, on the other hand, shares that as a teenager, she struggled with having to sit still beside her Mom while the latter interacted with clients. At 15, all she wanted was to go out and have fun, but now sees how crucial that exposure was to her current career. “Now, I know that listening to and understanding the client’s wants and needs are integral to making a successful collaboration for jewelry making,” Janina declares. “I believe our Mom saw the potential in all of us and wanted to put the seed of inheriting the business as early as then.”

While creativity, it can be argued, is perhaps in their DNA, their unique hands-on upbringing was crucial to further honing their skills. As a jeweler, Candy credits everything she’s learned from her Mom, absorbing everything from how to sketch to even her social skills. She constantly finds inspiration not only in her Mom’s joie de vivre, but more specifically, in the visionary jeweler’s lexicon of style. “A few months ago, I dug up her old designs and made them all again,” Candy shares. “It sold already so I know her designs are timeless, and will always be enjoyed by jewelry lovers.”

Having been designing for decades, the sisters have worked with every stone imaginable, oscillating within different aesthetics but remaining true to their own voices. Janina views hers a mix of modernity and eclecticism, with a touch of vintage. Her work is bold and confident, with a bit of the unexpected thrown in. 

Janina Dizon

Entering her chic boutique at The Peninsula Manila, you find yourself surrounded by bold gems ensconced in clean geometric silhouettes. Then there are Baroque motifs inspired by the architecture, soft, feminine pearls, and playful charms with a charming found-object feel. There’s a cross-cultural aspect to her designs, a layered quality that takes its cues from different art movements and emerges as a layered, elegant, and truly one-of-a-kind.

Janina Dizon Jewelry Boutique at The Peninsula Manila

Candy on the other hand describes her style as whimsical and fun, with a penchant for flowery motifs. Indeed, the natural world has been a constant source of inspiration for her,  with everything from carved floral earrings, diamond birds perched upon gorgeous raw stones, to botanical brooches en tremblant.

Candy Dizon

True to her name, her candy-colored pieces are vibrant and full of life, capable of adding a bit of glistening sparkle to any ensemble. And through the years, Candy finds herself gravitating even more towards bolder designs emerging as jewelry that has a contemporary presence, while still having that elegant old-world feel.

Raised by their Mom and trained in every aspect of design since childhood, nothing much has changed given that the Dizon sisters continue to eat, live and breathe jewelry.

The Silaw Collection

Interestingly enough, even when they’re not working, their artistic sides still manage to find inspiration. Candy recalls going on vacation in Greece, and coming home with a pillar as a souvenir. This then got her to thinking on how wonderful it would be for people to have Filipino tokens and remembrances that are fine jewelry.

Lucy Torres Gomez wears the Silaw Collection

This was one of the driving forces behind her newest Silaw collection. “I thought of our national symbols and decided to make them into jewelry, so we too can have a representation of our country,” she says.

The Silaw Collection

Janina finds inspiration in travel, as well as her personal experiences throughout different spaces and through time. “Having children and playing with them introduced the Transformer collection,” she says of pieces that allowed clients to personalize their look by layering  layer rings and mixing and matching earrings. Then, she posits how Cadre is a celebration of the Baroque architecture of Vienna where she travels the most. Grieving her parent’s demise, the jeweler also designed the Hilom collection of jeweled crosses and other sacred symbols.

The Transformer Collection

In addition to their many showstopping collections, the Dizons also work with clients to design bespoke pieces. Some of their clients were initially their Mom’s clients. And within these families, even the girls of the next generation are finding resonance and beauty in their work. And it’s not hard to see why, as each piece they work on is designed meticulously with love and care, and crafted using techniques honed for decades. There’s a poetry to the sinuous shapes and a playfulness to the brilliant colors, like objets d’art meant to be worn and transformed into modern heirlooms. Whether it be an understated pair of everyday earrings, or a multi-carat statement necklace, their jewels do indeed reflect the best of human imagination and emotion.

The Hilom Collection

They’re also imprinted with their clients’ personalities, with their creations equally shaped and enriched by the wearer’s stories and unique histories. The siblings make it a point to really converse with their clients, and understand how these women live their lives. “By talking and exchanging stories, I get the sense of what kind of jewelry they enjoy wearing,” says Candy, marrying her own professional input with the client’s wants and needs. Janina echoes the same sentiments, sharing that she listens closely to her client’s requirements on everything from stone selection, gold karatage, and even price range. “I feel like it’s important to always know when and where to scale up or down, to make the process as seamless as possible.”

Cadre by Janina Dizon Jewelry

Both Janina and Candy enjoy working together in the same industry, while maintaining their independence. Their sisters-in-law, Ginny and Lucille, as well as their brothers, also work in the family business, albeit maintaining their own enterprises within the umbrella. Candy, who designs under the Jul B. Dizon brand, shares that they all have their own strengths and their own character, and that allows their pieces to be unique. 

“It’s great working with family, but having our own shops is even better because we are all bosses in our own way. By owning my own shop, decision making is faster and easier,” declares Candy, who has now moved to a newer and bigger Jul B. Dizon boutique at Ayala Triangle Gardens.

A precious family photo of the late Juliette B. Dizon and Cenen G. Dizon (center) with Ginny and Lucille (left) and Candy and Janina (right) Janina also loves having the best of both worlds, having both the support of family while still enjoying her creative freedom as she designs under the Janina for Jul Dizon brand. “Our sister synergy I believe is a special one. While we have different ideas, we always support and help each other as best we can, whether it be sourcing different gemstones, new technology and equipment, or even just artistic advice without overstepping boundaries.”

Despite the dedication and passion they have for their work, family time is sacred for the Dizons, as well as a bit of self care. “I always have a trip or two in the works, and I am grateful that my business allows me this in this particular time in my life,” contemplates Janina. They are in agreement that family time is a non-negotiable part of their lives.Janina celebrates her 2026 birthday with kids Tate and Juliette at the Mandarin Oriental in Vienna“The teaching of our parents to balance family and work life is crucial to how I parent,” shares Janina, who is Mom to Juliette and Tate. “I am now an empty nester but I always make time and find ways to be with my children and create memories for us to look back on fondly.” 

And like her sister, Candy is likewise keen on finding balance, always toeing the line between being a Mom to Jacqueline and Jody as well as a consummate artist and professional. But with her two lovely daughters now grown, she’s found herself more able to indulge in self-care. “Being able to leave my kids at home is making me travel a whole lot more than I should. It also doesn’t help that my travel buddies are my sisters,” she shares.

Candy in their ancestral home with daughters Jody and Jacqueline, and beloved Shih Tzu, Milo “We are what you call pasaway. Whenever we travel, we always tell each other, ‘Mom and Dad would be so upset with us because we are leaving our shops again.’ But after that reminder, we just laugh it off and travel anyway.”

Of course, with Candy and Janina’s entire generation immersed in design, they are keen on having their children take over some day. But only if they want to. “I would so want my daughters to take over the business. It would be a dream come true but I make sure that I do not force them to make that decision. It is here if they should want it,” shares Candy. “I do remind them that there’s nothing quite like being your own boss.” As a single parent, Candy is grateful that her work has allowed her to raise her daughters, send them to Canada, and provide all the good things in life. “All thanks to the business that my mom and dad left us.”

In the same manner, Janina has the same stance. “While I would like them to follow in my footsteps, I know that I can only lead by example by loving the work you have,” she declares. “They may or may not. What’s important is their happiness in whatever they are meant to do.”

On what the stylish sisters hope for the future, keeping their bejeweled heritage alive as they always have is forefront. “I would love my grandmother and my Mother’s legacy to be continued into many generations,” shares Janina. “It has been a rewarding and fulfilling part of our lives , and has opened so many opportunities for us in expressing our point of view.”

As for Candy, she’s also got no plans of slowing down as she continues to honor their inherited history with each piece she creates. “There are still so many collections that I dream of creating and sharing with my clients. For as long as they continue to trust in me and my capabilities as a designer,” she shares. In any case, she’s excited for the Jul B. Dizon’s golden anniversary in a few years. “It will be our 49th year next year and when we turn 50, expect a huge celebration!” We, for one, can’t wait.