Los Angeles–based Lisa Kim of Lisa Kim Fine Jewelry debuted her sci-fi-inspired line in 2012. Kim spent her college years learning animation, then shifted gears to jewelry after a friend spied emerging design talent in a craft project—Christmas baskets fashioned out of Swarovski crystals and wire. “She said, ‘You need to do this with jewelry,’” Kim recollects. After 10 years of working in costume, Kim decided to venture into fine, taking classes at the Jewelry Arts and Design College in Los Angeles. Design internships included a stint with prop master Tony Swatton of the famous Viking-theme Capital One commercials, wardrobe artist Michael Schmidt (where Kim helped to make a crown for Madonna’s MDNA tour), tutelages under Valentin Yotkov and Davide Bigazzi, and instruction in repoussé. Her resulting signature style is “a dreamlike fusion of crystals and teeth,” she explains. Abstract bird influences and aurora borealis–esque gemstones further flesh out Kim’s dramatic silhouettes.
Courtesy Mark Tanner
Jewelry designer Lisa Kim
Starting retail price: $120 in sterling silver and $710 in 18k gold
Accounts: Two to date, including Gallery of Jewels in San Francisco’s Union Square
Trade fairs: None to date
Retailer buy-in: 12 pieces
Accolades: Finalist in the 2014 JCK Jewelers’ Choice Awards for Best Bracelet Design in the $2,501–$10,000 category and Winner of the 2013 Carelle-WJA Brooke Tivol-McGrath Member Grant
Contact: Lisa Kim Fine Jewelry, Los Angeles; 818-572-7928
Moonbird bracelet in silver, $620
Little Bird pendant necklace in 18k gold, $1,200
Wing earrings in 18k gold with 3.47 cts. t.w. faceted cavansite, $5,530
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