Pamela Huizenga’s Final Collection Has A Surprise Ending

By Amy Elliott | October 28, 2021

Sad: Soon the world will be denied a steady supply of newly minted designs by designer and lapidary Pamela Huizenga, known for her gloriously gem-forward creations that range from an impossibly chic strand of rough-cut aquamarine beads to a giant dendritic agate cocktail ring to a cloud-shape pendant in luminous chalcedony.

Happy: She’s off to greener pastures. Literally, she’s off to greener pastures because this week she announced an exciting midcareer pivot—she will be devoting the majority of her time to the upkeep and expansion of the farming enterprise she owns and operates from her home base of Stuart, Fla. It used to be a parallel project; now, it will be her primary focus.

“As someone who focuses on one-of-a-kind pieces, the pressure of constantly putting together collections is a lot,” Huizenga tells JCK. “I couldn’t do that anymore with everything that was going on in my life, and so it seemed like a good time to step away from it all.”

Called Colab Farms, the multiarm farming endeavor is centered on the year-round growing of organic produce, with an emphasis on sustainability; nurturing, fortifying, and educating the greater South Florida community; and elevating the definition and reach of local food culture. Right now, there are two five-acre farms, and an urban restaurant/marketplace called Colab Kitchen is on track to open on Dec 1. There is also an outdoor special-events space, Colab Gardens, in development.

But it’s fair to say that Huizenga is easing into the transition, as the announcement of her new business focus was accompanied by the introduction of what she and her team are calling the Final Collection. It encompasses nearly 100 one-of-a-kind jewels that Alexander’s retailers and collectors may acquire before her work becomes as scarce as…well, as scarce as fresh organic produce is in South Florida during the height of summer.

“In Florida, you don’t grow lettuce in the summer, but we will have local, gorgeous lettuce and other vegetables available 12 months out of the year because we’re doing most of our growing in greenhouses,” says Huizenga.

Where some designers used the pandemic downtime to lean into their collections and refine their voices anew, Alexander found that the moment was ripe for new opportunities—and that the time had come to switch gears and scale back.

“The number one thing I will miss about the jewelry industry is the people,” she says. “In the big picture, I am definitely stepping away, but I have been in the jewelry business since I was 16 years old in some fashion or another so I can’t imagine that I’ll be completely gone. I’m sure I will design every one of my kids’ engagement rings and wedding rings. And there is a handful of bespoke designs that I will probably make in the next year using stones that I can’t imagine someone else doing something with. But there will not be an active line, and we will not be featured in stores beyond the Final Collection.”

Still, do not expect a Pamela Huizenga fire sale of stones and tools. Retailers who currently carry her work have been told that she will entertain special-order requests for key collectors.

Some designers have approached her about the possibility of absorbing some of her most important stones, and she is open to the possibility. And here’s a pro tip: Huizenga has been quietly off-loading some very nice-looking stone parcels on an Etsy storefront.

Clearly, Huizenga’s entrepreneurial spirit will not be tamped down, but I wondered: Will her new focus adequately allow for the nurturing of her creative spirit?

“I’m a serial crafty person,” she says. “I have a hard time sitting still and not using my hands. I have also found out over the last three or four years in the farm business that the people who are into farming on a hands-on artisan level are actually very, very creative and very artistic. They love to grow, preserve, and cook their own food, and most of them are into fiber arts, and it’s been very enlightening, so I think my creative spirit will be just fine.”

When we spoke, Huizenga was in her pottery studio, creating objects she plans to make available in the Colab Kitchen marketplace, among other local artisan goods such as chocolates, soap, and honey.

“We are very into collaboration, working with our local community, and we want to help promote and support other local farms and makers and all of the people in the area,” she says.

A few favorites from the Pamela Huizenga Final Collection are featured below and up top. I just teared up looking at those opals. But if it has to be lettuce, so be it. We’re all for growth, whatever form it takes, and the journey looks a little different for everyone. And when a rock star has a farewell tour, there’s always the possibility of a reunion show…