Thoughts on 20th Anniversary Collection

this is a ring from the new collection.

While drawing this collection, I surrounded myself every morning with flowering dogwood and cherry blossoms and was deeply inspired by the turn of the century works of Faberge and Lalique so full of poetry and astonishing detail. I realized that movement was inherent to the butterfly and that the pieces, like a lot of Faberge's work, had to have a magical secret to them-- in my own early pieces I made pieces with mystery such as an anatomical heart ring with a hidden door, a 'Travel Book' that opened to expose a tiny keyhole with a picture inside. This new collection goes back stylistically to my earliest creations in that they are all about the power of the secret.

I think of these pieces as small meditations to be worn together or next to each other. Making the Wedding Dress and Flower Girl necklaces, I thought of the dense silver and gold charm bracelets worn by my mother and grandmother that I played with as a child. Each pendant contains a private meaning, a poem that carries a potency that helps tell the unique narrative of the person who wears it.…. I am so proud of every single piece—they are magic--- and am so happy to present them at this milestone in my life as a designer.

Fiore Necklace

While working on this collection I did many drawings of flowering quince, cherry and dogwood that I had all around in my studio. Quince was the perfect flower in which to hide a poem.

I had thought a lot about how Faberge hid poetic secrets inside his eggs and I felt challenged to make something in this spirit. Each of the 4 outside petals I carved individually from wax . On the sterling version the inside petal is gold and contains the verse from Rumi translated by Coleman Barks.

Esme Earrings

I carved this small piece of moss from a piece of wax and it is articulated on the back as well as the front. It took days and a lot of concentration and many drawing studies. Juxtaposed against the detail, it has a small clean oval where the engraving sits that quiver when worn. These are my favorite earrings to date.

Giles Ring

I think of this ring as a small sculpture. It was a free form experiment and it looked very funky in the wax. We cast it as an afterthought just to see how it would turn out and it became an instant favorite in the studio immediately inspiring the larger Kothari ring and the babies, Katja and Teja. Gold plates are laminated to the ends where the poetry sits and I used rose gold on the 18k version. I think it would make an unusual and distinctive choice for a his and hers set paired with the Kothari.

Treasure

many of the charms on my mother's bracelet move, like this circus monkey.

When I was little I played with my mom's charm bracelet all the time. It was in the scale I loved! The fact that the charms moved, opened and jingle-jangled when worn just made it as fascinating as the story it was telling charm by charm. It was as large as my head, or at least it seemed. Mom just let me play with it agian for this photo...and I have secretely been wearing it a bit...I am having a big love affair with charms right now as a result.

This was my grandmother's gold charm bracelet from the 60's. Each on has a date on the back.

Avalon

When I first started making jewelry I discovered early on that I could engrave very minute words into metal and that a poem worn against the skin was very intimate. It was a cool secret that I had an entire Rilke poem hiding against my wrist. Quirky and idiosyncratic it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I started making one of a kind book pendants that had details, like keyholes with photographs smaller than a grain of rice, and sometimes the odd tiny sea horse under glass.

For this 'book' necklace I hammered the wings out of metal and that is what gives it an Art Nouveau feeling as I used an old world technique. You can see one of the two Rumi poems through the crystal set on the wing. The other wing has a plate of gold that carries two different Rumi poems. I love this piece most of all because it takes me back to the idea of the book --only this book can fly. It hangs open, closes or inside out for a more abstract textural look to the wings.

Mini Majaraja

Vineet is our computer wizard in India and this is his adorable son. He is at a wedding in this picture. I want his entire outfit.

We Snuck In....

my friend Michael and I cooking up a plan...

...and found a treasure upstairs from our studios. They are renovating the late Mayor Phelan's offices circa 1907. I found out that when Macy's occupied this floor they covered up the windows, walls and floors to protect it. The entry doors are curved with glass transoms and the original windows are actually in front of the modern windows that were added later. There is even a full shower off the main room!

detail of one of the columns

James Phelan was the mayor of San Francisco just before the 06 earthquake and later a Senator. There is a secret mini penthouse on the roof that was built for his mistress and I snuck up there as well years ago. It feels like a grand little dollhouse with small columns, a fresco on the domed parlor ceiling that is peeling and there are french doors out to the deck. They rented it out to a photographer and his wife back in the 60's but it has been vacant ever since. It is my fantasy to have them rent it to me for my studio someday.

this is a tiny door next to the normal sized curved entry door....

Phelan saw himself as a sort of Medici of San Francisco who wanted to create a Paris of the West--not a bad plan for a small town ravaged by an earthquake and started with gold rush money. I would love to rent the space for our 20th anniversary 'Vernissage' for my new collection ( I just learned this word) ...but first I will have to see what the building management says about that idea...

Best of the Bay--San Francisco Magazine July Issue

How great to be included in the list!

A Great Note From A Customer

"I wanted to share this picture I took last week while on a vacation in Topsail Island, NC. I purchased this ring during my visit to San Francisco in November of last year. My last two trips there found me at your store choosing a ring. I think it's become a tradition for me. :) I chose the quote both because it certainly fits my feelings about my SF trips, but also because I want to remember that every day is a gift and simply being HERE, anywhere, is a gift.
As I stood staring out to sea, I remembered my ring and thought that a picture with the quote visible would be a neat thing to do.
I thought you all might like to know that to me your jewelry is more than just a beautiful thing to wear on the outside, it's a representation of what's going on inside as well.
Peace and joy to you all!"
Susan

Hi Miyako!

Miyako is giving my head a hammerin' which is blond since she saw it last

Miyako Kurooka is our chic and well travelled agent in Japan. She landed last night and was at our offices bright and early as always--she has more energy than anyone I know. We took her over to the Rotunda in Neiman's where we lunched and cought up over the famous pop overs that were larger than our heads. Here is what I learned: Miyako isn't fond of camping and Kazu, our wholesale specialist, spent her early years living in a hotel--exactly like Eloise! oh, and we did talk a little about business...

Miyako is responsible for introducing Camper and Henri Beguelin to Japan. Currently she has five Henri Beguelin stores and we are happy to have a small selection featured in three of them. My dream is to someday have a teeny tiny store in Japan and Miyako is the one who I would trust to do that well. I have to be really, really patient because that does not happen overnight. We sell to about 25 stores there including Barneys Japan so relatively few people are aware of my line there...someday...

here is an example of a shop in shop in Japan.

The Zoo and Decorating with Workbenches

Its is Friday and I have already covered serious ground at the zoo this morning. We saw the baby gorilla and the feeding of the grizzlies... but most importantly, William found an awesome puddle to stomp in right in front of the tigers.

I have been tortured about working all the time in my studio and being away from Will so I made an executive decision to put one of our extra workbenches right in the middle of my dining room--not exactly in the middle but in front of the windows. Phew.

A long time ago, I lived in a warehouse and I felt a pressure to work all the time since there was no boundary between 'work' and 'live' in the space. It wore me out, I ended up having a little health break down and I swore to always keep things separate no matter what. Now that I have a family I find myself having to do whatever it takes to structure my work differently, in a totally new way, and it is turning out to be really more difficult and painful being away from him--more than I thought it would be. The challenge is that what I do requires a lot of concentration and very specific tools so it isn't something I can just do on a computer from anywhere. I have to admit that I am having a real love/hate moment with my work.

Flow

I was happily in a state of flow while working on a tiny wax moss!

I am reading a book called Happiness by a Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, who also has a background in cellular genetics. In the chapter about flow he has this to say:

William James wrote, 'My experience is what I agree to attend to.' Entering the state of flow depends closely on the amount of attention given to the lived experience. If we are to enter into flow, the task must monopolize all our attention and present a challenge commensurate with our abilities. If it is too difficult, tension sets in, followed by anxiety; too easy, and we relax and are soon bored. In the experience of flow, a resonance is established between the action, the external environment, and the mind. In most cases this fluidity is felt as an optimal experience with a great sense of satisfaction. It is the inverse not only of boredom and depression, but also of agitation and distraction. It is interesting to note, too, that so long as the state lasts, there is a loss of reflective self-consciousness. All that remains is the alertness of the subject, who becomes one with his action and has ceased observing himself.

In The Store

Sometimes it is nice to have a small burst of color to layer with your favorite necklaces--especially in the summer. Down in the store we have a small selection of gem necklaces using some of our most beautiful semi precious stones. I also am using some black diamonds and horn...more pictures to come.

Graduation

This year we are having an especially high amount of orders for graduation-- way more than in previous years. One mother has purchased an impressive selection of bangle bracelets in silver and gold for her daughter's high school commencement . What is surprising to us all is that the daughter's collection started with one of our velvet baby bracelets!