6 min
Xavi Garcia, a member of FC Barcelona and a special client of Brilianto, has acquired several pieces from the exclusive Etern Spotify Camp Nou and 125th Anniversary Diamond Collection. In a candid conversation, he speaks about the values of FC Barcelona, his passion for the club —“I am especially drawn to the collective feeling”— and how the diamonds represent identity, history, and emotion.
Diamonds from the Etern Spotify Camp Nou Collection.
How did you discover the Etern Spotify Camp Nou Collection?
I discovered it through an informational newsletter from the club that I received as a member. From the Etern Spotify Camp Nou Collection, I chose two pieces. One is the limited-edition pendant, which reproduces the stadium and is made of 18K yellow gold–plated silver, set with a 0.10-carat diamond. The other piece is the badge featuring the Barça crest, which also has a diamond set in it.
125th Anniversary Diamond Collection
Coinciding with the club's 125th anniversary, the 125th Anniversary Diamond Collection was launched. On this occasion, you have also chosen some jewelry. Which ones were they?
The pendant, which features a 0.5-carat diamond set under the club's crest, and the bracelet, which also features a 0.5-carat diamond.
Diamonds for Valentine's Day
What attracted you to the 125th Anniversary Diamond Bracelet and the 125th Anniversary Diamond Pendant?
They are refined jewelry pieces, with an excellent design. And they are magnificent Valentine's Day gifts. The pendant and the bracelet are a gift for my partner and wife.
Handcrafted jewelry
What would you highlight about the design?
I liked many details, and I recognize fine craftsmanship. I love how the reproduction of the stadium for the Etern Spotify Camp Nou collection pendant was simplified with characteristic details! I work with NURBS [a type of 3D modeling that allows the creation of smooth and precise shapes] complex surface design programs and I am sensitized to organic shapes.
Feelings of belonging to the club in a piece of jewelry
Do you like fine jewelry?
I like jewelry, and I also have a feeling for the club that gives meaning to the purchase of jewelry with which I identify. It is like carrying a piece of Barça with me. On the other hand, I also observe these pieces from a professional perspective, as I work in the world of CAD-CAM, a technology with great application in the jewelry sector.
Laboratory diamonds
Before knowing the Etern Spotify Camp Nou diamond collection, were you familiar with the concept of the 'laboratory diamond'?
Yes, I was already familiar with laboratory diamonds. I knew that diamonds could be created from the ashes of a cremated person. So I immediately understood the process of creating the diamond from the carbon of the stadium.
Diamonds with a soul
Diamonds of unique origin. Diamonds with a soul.
Yes, it is a very innovative and attractive concept. And furthermore, it amplifies your feeling of identification with the club. And in some way, you help the club, of course. The Barça diamonds have not been the only memorabilia or unique pieces I have acquired.
A seat from the Spotify Camp Nou and stadium grass
What other special acquisitions have you made?
A seat from the Spotify Camp Nou, for which I still have to find a place. And a reproduction of the stadium with original grass and a rectangular resin prism that also contains grass from the field.
Barça colors
Since when have you felt the Barça colors?
Since I was a young child. I have always liked football, and during my school years I was lucky enough to enjoy a large playground that allowed us to play with the ball. My environment, of course, inclined me to feel the Barça colors. My father was a supporter of the club, and sometimes he would take me to the field to watch a match. I remember fondly when, during the expansion works of the Camp Nou for the 1982 World Cup, I would sneak through the fences with a schoolmate to watch the midweek matches.
The club's values
In other words, you could hardly have belonged to another team.
The environment influences a lot, that's clear, but in the end it is also a personal choice. Over time, I came to understand what Barça represents, its values, and its history. One of the concepts that inspired me most was the one represented by la Masia: boosting football talent from the time a player is a child, without ever losing sight of values. And it's true that no club is perfect, not even Barça, but there is something in its way of understanding football that has always reached me.
«Més que un club»
«Més que un club», right?
Yes, of course. What led me to feel part of Barça was also a sense of collective. I consider myself a person of clubs, of collective projects.
Clubs with a philosophy similar to ‘la Masia’
What other clubs do you belong to?
I am a yacht captain, and I belong to the Club Nàutic de l’Estartit. I am also an airplane pilot, and I am a member of the Aeroclub de Sabadell. For me, Barça, the clubs I have mentioned, and other projects in which I have participated, generate a sense of belonging.
Beyond navigation and aviation, do these clubs also capture you because of the values they transmit, as happens with Barça?
Yes, of course. In the Club Nàutic de l’Estartit, for example, we train children of 5-6 years old with the quintessential sailing initiation boats, the Optimists, which we call banyeretes. They are taught to sail and to grow with healthy values. At heart, it is a philosophy very similar to that of la Masia.
Member since Guardiola's first season
Since when have you been a member of FC Barcelona?
In a first stage, I had the supporter card, a kind of entry level that was conceived. And I decided to become a member when I believed the club needed me most, me and so many others. It was the 2007-2008 season, which we finished third, 18 points behind Real Madrid. In the following season, Guardiola arrived, and we made history.
History in some diamonds
Barça made history. That history that is part of the FC Barcelona diamonds.
Yes, Guardiola's total football that conquered the world is also inside those jewels!