When I went to NY Now in August and saw Los Angeles–based designer Beth Yorn’s collection in person for the first time, I was completely taken with these earrings, as were many of JCK’s Instagram followers. But even alongside these, and the other gemmy extravagances that comprise Yorn’s nature-driven line, Elisabeth Bell Jewelry, something sweeter and smaller caught my eye and, ironically, left the biggest impression:
Look, the market is obviously saturated with personalized jewelry, but these felt special to me. Probably because they seem tailor-made for moms who want to preserve their child’s sweetness and innocence at a specific moment in time. That’s essentially what silhouette art, the paper cutout genre, is all about. And these Elisabeth Bell pendants capture this same sense of nostalgia but do so in a way that feels cool and modern.
Yorn casually mentioned that Lord Jewelry handles the enameling—that would be the downtown L.A.-based firm helmed by Sinork Agdere, a master jeweler fluent in the art of old-world jewelry enameling who was once featured on this blog. His work is exquisite, and his hand in the whole thing really puts the quality of the final product on a different level.
Meanwhile, all of the goldwork is done by hand, and the collet’s texture is taken from a willow branch (one of Yorn’s signature motifs). According to Yorn, the willow branch symbolizes life, balance, learning, growth, harmony, strength, and stability, adding an extra layer of meaning to an already-sentimental jewel.
The custom silhouette pendants are made to order and take about six to eight weeks to produce—so get your holiday orders in now.
But wait, there’s more! In speaking with Yorn about her line and poking around on her Instagram, I discovered her sister line, Rainbow Vintage 1980 (if Roseark’s carrying it you know it’s cool).
The collection includes pieces made with reclaimed vintage Lucite sourced from Germany and these acrylic rainbow heart pendants. Yorn removes the rhinestones and replaces them with your choice of a diamond, emerald, ruby, or sapphire.
The hearts come in two sizes, and Yorn said she has plenty of material to fulfill wholesale orders with qualified retailers.
My colleague Brittany Siminitz is JCK’s resident expert on necklace layering, and the other thing I love about both the custom silhouettes and rainbow hearts is that as striking as they are, they mix really well with other styles. Especially, surprisingly, if the other style is a diamond baguette rivière. High/low heaven!
Top: Jewelry designer Elisabeth Bell’s Rainbow Vintage 1980 pendants (photo via: @rainbowvintage1980) and custom silhouette necklaces (photo courtesy of Elisabeth Bell Jewelry)
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