
The Athena Calderone x John Hardy capsule feels like the child of the art deco and Streamline Moderne styles—clean, geometric, and linear yet still beautifully opulent.
This is Calderone’s first jewelry collection, and the New York City interior designer, author, chef, and entertaining expert who created the EyeSwoon lifestyle brand shows her deft hand at creating elevated shapes and intriguing contrasts between hard, luxurious gemstones and softer materials like silk rope.
The 17-piece collection was released April 15. Prices start at $995 for a silver and pavé diamond ring and goes up to $6,200 for a 14k gold lariat necklace with diamonds.

“As I researched and developed this collection, I found myself drawn to the elegant, streamlined forms and materials of 1920s and 1930s decor,” Calderone says. “The era’s overarching restraint—favoring simplicity and practicality over ornamentation—deeply resonated with me. As I began sketching, the jewelry naturally took on a timeless visual language.”
Calderone worked with John Hardy creative chairman Reed Krakoff to develop the collection, and he says they blended Calderone’s distinctive style language of organic shapes and natural materials with John Hardy’s use of volume and sustainable materials.
Krakoff describes their design process as “fluid and highly collaborative,” and he considers the collab reflective of the direction the John Hardy brand is taking in its next chapter.
“Athena was the first person I could think of for a collaboration that could reach a consumer who’s greatly interested in style, fashion, travel, and everything in between,” Krakoff says. “Athena and I were introduced during my time at Tiffany & Co. when I joined her on her podcast, More Than One Thing.”

Krakoff says that during that 2021 podcast’s two-hour conversation, the two realized they both loved the same design periods and were devoted to everyday creativity in all aspects of life. Calderone says she had long admired Krakoff’s sense of home, creativity, and business acumen, even before the podcast drew them closer.
“I love that feeling when you hold somebody in such high regard and then you connect on such a deep level. Our friendship definitely blossomed from there, so when Reed reached out wanting to collaborate on this capsule collection for John Hardy, my heart skipped a beat—it was an immediate yes,” she says.
Calderone did a deep dive into history for the limited-edition John Hardy collection, pulling reference material from a variety of genres. She looks at auction sites, jewelry, home, fashion, and architecture to find ideas.

“Our inspiration overall was drawn from several historical design references including interior design, favoring practicality and simplicity over ornamentation from the ’20s and ’30s, which Athena and I both gravitated towards in our collaborative efforts,” explains Krakoff.
He says they aimed to make pieces that, while modern with clean lines, feel intentionally imperfect, with quiet contradictions. This was achieved through the contrasting volumes of the jewels’ sculptural shapes and use of materials like black temple stone, which is native to Bali—the birthplace of the John Hardy brand—diamond pavé, and suspended nuggets of rock crystal.
One of Krakoff’s and Calderone’s favorite pieces from their partnership is the collar necklace. “The collar could belong to the 1920s, the 1990s, or today,” Calderone says. “It gently follows the feminine form, while the intentional break—a delicate strip of diamonds—introduces a rhythmic tension, a quiet contradiction that I love.”
Top: Athena Calderone is a designer, author, and brand founder—and here, the model for her John Hardy capsule collection. (Photos courtesy of John Hardy)
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