You have one of the most incredible jewelry backgrounds. You could teach classes! Can you talk about your experience in jewelry and how it lead you to starting your own line?

The first decade plus I spent in this business was as a diamond buyer and diamond manufacturer, a few years before the technology existed to measure diamond angles on a machine and official cut grades existed. This gave me a unique opportunity to truly understand what the minutia details are of a diamond that can really enhance its beauty. After doing that for many years and designing jewelry on the side for friends and family, I decided it was ‘now or never’ and launched my line five years ago. The combination of the attention to detail and the emphasis on the diamond has been the main inspiration in my design. I like to design to best enhance the diamond, like a fashion designer making clothes to flatter a woman’s body.

How has your “jewelry filled” upbringing impacted the way that you look at jewelry?

I think having grown up around jewelry and doing this for so long, I appreciate that while this is a luxury purchase, it’s far more emotional and important than most others because the story of the acquisition of a piece is as important as the piece itself, whether it’s something you pick out together, a surprise gift or an inherited item. Also, I have a deep belief that jewelry is meant to be worn because in my world, all the women in my family wore jewelry! Love it…cherished it! It’s not supposed to sit in a box. In fact, especially when it comes to rose and yellow gold, it looks better the more it’s worn.

What is the inspiration behind your designs?

I want to create new diamond classics that you love even more with time. I’m not knocking the classics, but I think their is a way to create diamond jewelry that is timeless but still stands out as something unique. Your diamond classics are something that you wear daily, so they should be a reflection of your true personal style! I also am a collector of Victorian and Georgian charms and jewelry so I definitely pull from that in my designs…using silhouettes or certain elements of that in my designs.

What is your favorite piece from your collection right now?

Hard question to answer because it changes all the time, but I would say my Penelope bracelet. I have wanted to create my version of a tennis bracelet for some time and what I finally landed on feels like the culmination of everything I strive for in my design. The focus is on the diamond, it has a nod to vintage jewelry with it multi pronged setting and yet it is completely unique in comparison to traditional diamond line bracelets. I wear it on the same hand as my watch.

What do you find to be the most rewarding aspect about being a jewelry designer?

Oh, that’s easy. I feel like a part of so many peoples beautiful moments and stories and I get to create relationships that start with an engagement and go through life. It’s a career that allows me to feel deeply connected to the presence of love in the human spirit.

What are your future plans for your jewelry line?

So many ideas I often get a little buried under them to be honest. I am working on a project that really focuses on re-purposing jewelry that is not being worn because it should be!!! I am also designing an exclusive collection for a diamond brand, talking about a men’s line and have a jewelry/home line percolating! I will of course continue with my existing line and continue to develop my bridal line which is where my heart resides a lot of the time!