If you were driving across the country this summer—with time and energy to stop in all 50 states—surely you’d make a point of tracking down the best jewelry talent in each locale for a quick meet and greet.

But this would be an ambitious undertaking for most of us, even the founders of NYC Jewelry Week (NYCJW), who have a nose for unearthing undiscovered gems and a taste for the cool and unusual. Their solution: a virtual cross-country tour, hosted on their Instagram, that invites independent jewelers and designers to submit their work for feature in a post that spotlights their jewelry and introduces them to an expanded network of jewelry enthusiasts.

A more concerted and fine-tuned follow-up to last year’s go at the same series, the 2021 edition of the USA Jewelry Tour kicks off on July 1 and will run well into August.

How do you know if you should apply?

“It’s more about the element discovery than us setting forward criteria,” says NYC Jewelry Week cofounder JB Jones. “We look for jewelers who have an active Instagram dedicated to their work or a small [online or brick-and-mortar] jewelry business. Many of the jewelers we share have a booming business online or in their local region, but still are not known to a larger national or global audience. We simply want to discover who’s making work across the country and see and share what they are doing.”

The focus continues to be on lesser-known, emerging United States–based talent. “We want to bring the jewelry world we live in closer together and shed light on designers who aren’t usually given the limelight because they aren’t living, working, or exhibiting in a larger city,” adds NYCJW cofounder Bella Neyman.

Last year’s tour was born from NYCJW’s desire to serve more than just New York City and to widen its reach to become a  jewelry community and organization that is committed to diversity and inclusion on a national and global scale. “It was the impetus for the expansion of Here We Are as a nationwide platform, which has been such a wonderful growth point for that initiative,” says Neyman. “We are so excited to go into year two of the tour and share a whole new set of new jewelry voices with our following.”

This year, Jones and Neyman say, they will be giving priority to BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ jewelers from each state.

Another goal is to spotlight indigenous jewelers. “Sharing the work and message of indigenous talent who are crafting work that tells of their ancestry, whether through traditional techniques or modern ones, allows the tour to emphasize the importance of supporting and celebrating the communities that existed here before the United States was formed,” says Jones.

The featured jewelers, artists, and designers from each state will appear on NYCJW’s main Instagram feed or Reels at least once a week. Slides of additional jewelers from each state will be featured in Stories. “So we’re able to share the work of quite a few jewelers each week,” says Jones. “Last year, we shared the work of over 250 jewelers, and this year I have a feeling that will double.”

Now that will be a trip.

Top: Geo Mandala ring, Artifacts by Paige Martin with Lyndsey Taylor (photo courtesy of @paigemartindesigns)

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