What you’ll learn in this episode: Why jewelry artists from the 60s and 70s, such as Andrew Grima and Arthur King, are gaining more appreciation today The difference between artist jewelers and jewelry by artists What a jewelry lover should do to refine their taste and start their collection What defines a passionate collector What to expect from the Kimberly’s upcoming exhibition “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s” About Kimberly Klosterman A graduate of Stephens College with a BFA in design, Kimberly Klosterman was always interested in art, antiques and design. After graduation she studied Decorative Arts at Sotheby’s London, where she was exposed to the world of antique jewelry. Upon return to Cincinnati, she and her Husband, Michael Lowe, opened their first gallery selling art and antiques. At this time, she also began her search for fine jewelry. To make ends meet for the new business, Klosterman went to work in the family company, Klosterman Baking Company, in 1982 where she currently moonlights as C.E.O. Her jewelry business, established after another Sotheby’s course, Understanding Jewelry, was opened in 1996. Her love of 1960s and 70s jewelry developed through the tutelage of Amanda Triossi, whose own collection thrilled Klosterman. After living in Amsterdam and London, she returned to Cincinnati where she continues to collect fine jewelry.  Klosterman has given gallery talks at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft Museum, the American Society of Jewelry Historians, and the American Society of Jewelry Appraisers, NYC Jewelry Week, Christies Auction, Bonhams Auction, etc.   The current exhibition “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s,” organized by Cynthia Amnéus, Chief Curator and Curator of Fashion at the Cincinnati Art Museum, is a result of Klosterman’s passion for collecting. Her goal, to help preserve the legacy of these bold men and women who were jewelers to the jet-set. The exhibition, which opened at DIVA in Antwerp, Belgum and traveled to the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzhiem, Germany, will be on view in Cincinnati Oct 22- Feb 6. A catalog complete with biographies and makers’ marks accompanies the exhibition. Additional Resources: Website Facebook Instagram Pintrest Photos: This is the cover of the book, which is also the catalog and a listing of where the exhibit has been. Roger Lucas for Cartier astronaut ring Romolo Grassi Gold and emerald pendant. Gilbert Albert ammonite and pearl Bracelet Brooch Cedars Devecchi carved coral and gold brooch. Arthur king Brooch Collection of Andy Warhol and Kim Klosterman Andrew Grima amethyst ring. Andrew Grima agate and tourmaline necklace. Transcript: What makes a passionate collector? For Kimberly Klosterman, it’s someone who can’t get enough of the objects they love, no matter what they are. She herself became a passionate collector of 1960s and 70s jewelry long before it became popular. Her collection is now being featured in a traveling exhibition, “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s.” She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the qualities that draw her to 60s and 70s jewelry; why the unique jewelry of this period has come back in style; and what aspiring collectors should do to create a thoughtful collection. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Could you collect a production piece in your collection? Kimberly: I do have some production pieces in my collection, for example pieces by Elsa Peretti; I happen to like Elsa Peretti very much. I think she’s a great designer, but again, she settled on jewelry as being her first and foremost love. Even though they’re production pieces, in my opinion, she’s an artist jeweler because she’s designing that way. Other production pieces that I have—during the late 60s and early 70s, Cartier made some production pieces that were pretty wonderful. There was another person, Aldo Cipullo, who designed the love bracelet and a number of other things that Cartier started selling. I think of him as an artist jeweler as well. Sharon: Is a piece that you want for your collection high-end or limited like Peretti? She’s not what I consider a production jeweler. I’m sure some of her work she signed and numbered, but I wouldn’t consider it production. You used TJ Maxx before; if you walked into TJ Maxx and saw a piece and you thought, “Oh my god, this is incredible,” would you maybe not wear it but consider buying it?  Kimberly: I love all kind of things, but for my collection, no. They’re signed pieces. That’s something, too, that I always looked for in forming my collection. I would see things that I thought were interesting and I would buy them. It didn’t always have to be signed, but nine out of 10 times, if the piece was signed, even if I didn’t know the name of the maker at all, I would buy it if I liked the piece because then I could do the research later. A lot of the material I have in my collection came to me that way, by buying unknown people and later finding out who they were and why they were important to this group of people in this time period. Sharon: If somebody wants to start a collection, if you’ve ignited somebody’s interest in this, where would you say they start? I don’t necessarily believe that things always have to be signed. I have some very nice things that aren’t signed, but where would you suggest they start? Are there certain designers? Kimberly: First of all, just getting out and seeing what’s available is very helpful. Go to the big shows. If you can, go to Miami, or there’s a show coming up in New York. Go to interesting places, because you can see a lot of jewelry and start thinking about what you might like. Look at books, look at auction catalogues; auctions are also a great place to look. Then settle on something that sings to you and go down that path. I think people have accumulations of things, which is really a shame. I find that people want what their friends have. They buy this and this, things that are hot, like Van Cleef and Arpels Zodiac pendants, which are fine; they’re wonderful and they’re really cool, but you start ticking off things. I want an Alhambra necklace; I want a Van Cleef Zodiac signed. To me, that’s wonderful jewelry. It’s great to wear all the time, and it is a collection. Believe me, the stuff will become and is more valuable than many of the one-of-a-kind pieces I like. You know what? Scratch all that stuff. That’s not good to say. Sharon: It is a collection if you’re talking about the Zodiac piece and Alhambra.  Kimberly: It’s a collection and it’s fine to have. I guess sometimes I get bummed out because I feel so passionate about these wonderful, one-of-a-kind pieces, and I find that a lot of times, people can’t wrap their minds around it because it’s something they don’t understand or haven’t seen much of. Sharon: Also, you might not be doing as much dealing now, but you look at things in terms of whether it’s going to appreciate. I buy things knowing sometimes they will appreciate. I have a friend who buys only with the idea of selling it. I don’t do that.  Kimberly: No, I definitely don’t either. I just buy my passion and what appeals to me. Sharon: I don’t know if I would have had the fortitude; you must have had to buckle up. Why you started out in this genre of jewelry, you must have had to buck a lot of people saying, “Oh my god, what do you see in that?” Kimberly: Well, dealers didn’t say that because they were just happy to get rid of it. I had a number of people showing me things that weren’t right at all, and I’d still get that. This is my view, and it’s like, “No, that doesn’t look like it at all.” I just love this path, and I think you do too, of having jewelry that celebrates your individualism. Sharon: Similar to you, I love it when I find a piece that’s one of a kind, even though nobody ever heard of the person. They’re never going to become a Cartier, but I like the fact that it’s really different. I’m curious about the exhibit, which I’m looking forward to seeing at some point in Cincinnati. Tell us about how it came about. Was that your brainchild? Kimberly: Yeah, it was interesting. In 2012, I had given a lecture for the American Society of Jewelry Historians in Manhattan, and in the audience was the curator of jewelry for the Cooper Hewitt, Sarah Coffin. Sarah came up to me after the lecture and said, “All this stuff is amazing. I think we should do an exhibition,” and I said, “Oh, that’s a cool idea. I like that idea.” For one reason or another, we could never get it together.  In 2015, I started thinking, “I’m going to propose this to someone else,” and I started thinking about what museum might make sense and who might like the idea. I went to the Cincinnati Art Museum and heard Cynthia Amnéus speak, and I was very impressed by the talk she gave. I remember that it was on modernism, a subject I know pretty well, and she had to get the lecture together overnight. I thought, “Wow, if she can do that overnight, she knows her stuff.” So, I went to Cynthia and said, “I have this collection of jewelry, and I’d like to talk to you about it.” She took my PowerPoint presentation and she really liked it. I thought this would make perfect sense because she’s Curator of Fashion for the Cincinnati Art Museum, and it’s literally in my own backyard. I know the material really well and I knew that a lot of people didn’t understand it, so I knew I was going to have to be hands on with the exhibition. This gave me the opportunity to do that, and it was really exciting.  After the show was accepted, we decided to travel it. It was an honor that DIVA picked up the show. They did a great exhibition. Sadly, I didn’t get to see it because of Covid. Following that, it went to the Schmuckmuseum of Pforzheim, Germany. Cornelie Holzach knew all about this kind of material, which I was very excited about. I had met with her and asked if they would be interested. She knew almost everyone in the exhibition, and she had great stories about them. I showed her a watch I had and she said, “I think that’s this artist,” and she went back and showed me where the source came from and some of their early catalogues. It was a real honor to be in both of those museums. I’m looking forward to the show in Cincinnati. Sharon: How long is it on for? Until next year, at least? Kimberly: Yes, it runs October 21 through February 6. Sharon: I certainly hope I get there. Cincinnati from Los Angeles is at least a little bit closer than New York. The other thing I’m curious about is what attracted you to this kind of jewelry first and what holds your attention. Kimberly: For me, it’s the naturalistic quality of the jewelry. There’s a lot of texture and warmth in most of the jewelry I collect, and I love the idea of using odd materials. The necklace I have on today by Arthur King has an amber piece with a petrified mosquito in it, and I just love that. The Gilbert Albert pieces that are in the catalogue with the fossilized ammonites, I think those are very interesting. I have some jewelry also by Gilbert Albert with beetles in them. I find all this natural material something special, and the natural crystals and uncut stones. Sharon: Did it give birth to what we see today? Kimberly: I really believe so. I haven’t talked to any young designers as to what their inspiration is, but one would think. All you have to do is look at the catalogue and page through it to see how this jewelry could have influenced young designers. Jacobs, for example, is a huge fan of Andrew Grima. So was the fashion world, I think.  Sharon: You could take any piece from the catalogue and put it in Nieman Marcus today. It wouldn’t look like a dated piece or anything; it would look like a fashion piece or a current piece. It’s a beautiful book, and I encourage anybody who has an interest in this to get their hands on it and take a look. Did you think about the book on its own aside from the exhibit, or did the book only come about because you knew you were doing an exhibit? Kimberly: The book came about because of the exhibit, but I did feel very strongly that the two should go hand in hand. I think, especially for jewelry, that’s a wonderful thing to happen, because you’re able to see the pieces in the flesh rather than just see them in a book. I do like having the record of the book. One thing we did, and this is where the dealer and the collector part of me comes in, is that the book is mainly buyers of these different artist jewelers who were fascinated themselves. Many of them sold to the jet set; it was that time and period and craziness. There are buyers of the artist jewelers, and in the back we have makers’ marks of all the jewelers that are in the exhibition. That comes in handy, especially for some of the more cryptic makers’ marks that people can’t figure out so well.  Sharon: It’s fabulous to see that. It’s a great resource. I know you have a background—is it in art history? Kimberly: Design primarily, but my husband I have had a gallery for as long as I can remember, and we’ve been together about 40 years. My husband sells, but mainly he’s like I am. We’re both hopeless collectors. It’s mostly minimal and conceptual art. Sharon: Wow! Do you enjoy the research part because it’s researching jewelry and art, or do you like research in general? Kimberly: I love research. I love research in general I suppose, but anything I’m passionate about. The only other thing I like to do is eat. Sharon: I can join you in that. Are there certain characteristics that a new collector should look at in terms of signatures or one-of-a-kind or limited edition? You’re driven by what you like and you’re suggesting that new collector would be driven by what they like. O.K., but are there certain things—everything you’re pointing out has what I call tentacles. You called them something else before. What are the characteristics here? Kimberly: Again for me, I think it goes back to the naturalism of all the material. I have to say I’ve always described my jewelry as painterly, meaning it’s textural, it has some kind of artistic quality to it. If I had to give advice to a budding collector, like I said, it would be try to see as much as you can, read as much as you can, and if you don’t read, that’s O.K.; look at the pictures. Look at jewelry catalogues and jewelry books and jewelry publications. Everybody will hit on something. It’s like you said earlier; you’ve got how many black shirts in your closet? I’m with you on that account, too. I think we will walk down our path of what our own taste is. It’s just discovering what the level of taste is and then going with it.  Sharon: Years ago, I was trying to decide what I should keep, what I should look at passing on or selling, and someone who sold art said to me, “Buy what you love.” I talked to other collectors in other areas where I tend to be—if it’s in TJ Maxx, I may not buy it, just to be truthful about it. Are you a believer in the buy what you love, or are you looking for certain things? Kimberly: Oh, absolutely. You have to buy what you love. The things is, you have to learn what you love, and you only do that by exposing yourself to what’s out there, or else you don’t know what you love. It’s just like a kid; they won’t eat certain things because they  haven’t tried them. Then they try them and they like them. You need to know what’s out there and what’s available so you can form an educated opinion. After all, like Christopher Dresser said, “Knowledge is power.” I think that’s an important statement. Sharon: I want to say it’s amazing—that’s not really the word I want, but the fact that you’ve collected this for so many decades now, several decades, and it’s still what you love. I don’t know what I want to say, but there are things I’ve liked; there are trends, but the fact that you have been so passionate about it for so long— Kimberly: It’s interesting, because I am very passionate about it still and I don’t see that waning at all, but that said, I love ancient jewelry. I love antique jewelry. I love jewelry by artists. There are many, many different kinds of jewelry that I absolutely adore as well. I just don’t go down that path as much because I find that I know more about this now. It’s like a friend of mine said, “Stick to your knitting.” I try to do that. However, with the ancient jewelry and ethnic jewelry, it informs the stuff I collect anyway. It’s not uncommon for me to wear a pre-Columbian pendant. What else do I have that I like to wear a lot? I have a lot of jewelry by a woman named Patti Cadby Birch who took ancient materials and reconfigured them in the 70s, so the materials are ancient, but they’re a little more wearable. I love that as well. Sharon: Have you thought about what your next exhibition is going to be? Kimberly: I’m going to say, because I don’t know if it’ll be an exhibition or not, but I’m really fond of the work by Arthur King. I think he’s an interesting American jeweler and an important American jeweler from the 60s. There are lots of people out there that have his jewelry. In my dream world, if I have time to do it, I’d like to do an exhibition of Arthur King, not just with the jewelry I have. Anybody listening, if you’re an Arthur King collector, I would really like to do a museum exhibition of his work. I would do that myself. Sharon: That would be fabulous. I don’t know his work. When you say there are a lot of people out there who collect him, I’m sure there are. I don’t see a lot of it. When I go to shows, I don’t see it or I don’t know it. It’s not being called out, like when they have a little tag saying, “This is a Cartier.” There are lots of jewelers besides Cartier, but I’m just saying. That would be fabulous. I didn’t even know he was American. Kimberly: Oh, yeah. He had a couple of stores in Manhattan and, like I said, in Florida as well, so lot of his jewelry ended up in those pockets of the world. A lot of people knew him, and there are some great stories about him. I have been in touch with people that were close to him, and right now I’m trying to get their stories just in case this comes to fruition. Sharon: That would be a fabulous next step. I’m sure you’re just going to sit down and be, like my husband would say, “eating bonbons” after this. Anyway, Kimberly, thank you so much for being here. The exhibit sounds wonderful. Who better to put it together and drive it than you, with your passion and knowledge? We are all looking forward to it. It starts October 21 at the Cincinnati Art Museum, which I understand is a fabulous museum. I look forward to getting there, and I hope everybody listening to this can make it also. Thank you so much. Kimberly: Thank you so much, Sharon. I hope to see you in Cincinnati.  We will have images posted on the website. You can find us wherever you download your podcasts, and please rate us. Please join us next time, when our guest will be another jewelry industry professional who will share their experience and expertise. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.

Jewelry Journey Podcast

Episode 133 - Part 2: The “Simply Brilliant” Jewelry of the 1960s and 1970s with Kimberly Klosterman, of Kimberly Klosterman Jewelry

What you’ll learn in this episode: Why jewelry artists from the 60s and 70s, such as Andrew Grima and Arthur King, are gaining more appreciation today The difference between artist jewelers and jewelry by artists What a jewelry lover should do to refine their taste and start their collection What defines a passionate collector What to expect from the Kimberly’s upcoming exhibition “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s” About Kimberly Klosterman A graduate of Stephens College with a BFA in design, Kimberly Klosterman was always interested in art, antiques and design. After graduation she studied Decorative Arts at Sotheby’s London, where she was exposed to the world of antique jewelry. Upon return to Cincinnati, she and her Husband, Michael Lowe, opened their first gallery selling art and antiques. At this time, she also began her search for fine jewelry. To make ends meet for the new business, Klosterman went to work in the family company, Klosterman Baking Company, in 1982 where she currently moonlights as C.E.O. Her jewelry business, established after another Sotheby’s course, Understanding Jewelry, was opened in 1996. Her love of 1960s and 70s jewelry developed through the tutelage of Amanda Triossi, whose own collection thrilled Klosterman. After living in Amsterdam and London, she returned to Cincinnati where she continues to collect fine jewelry.  Klosterman has given gallery talks at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft Museum, the American Society of Jewelry Historians, and the American Society of Jewelry Appraisers, NYC Jewelry Week, Christies Auction, Bonhams Auction, etc.   The current exhibition “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s,” organized by Cynthia Amnéus, Chief Curator and Curator of Fashion at the Cincinnati Art Museum, is a result of Klosterman’s passion for collecting. Her goal, to help preserve the legacy of these bold men and women who were jewelers to the jet-set. The exhibition, which opened at DIVA in Antwerp, Belgum and traveled to the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzhiem, Germany, will be on view in Cincinnati Oct 22- Feb 6. A catalog complete with biographies and makers’ marks accompanies the exhibition. Additional Resources: Website Facebook Instagram Pintrest Photos: This is the cover of the book, which is also the catalog and a listing of where the exhibit has been. Roger Lucas for Cartier astronaut ring Romolo Grassi Gold and emerald pendant. Gilbert Albert ammonite and pearl Bracelet Brooch Cedars Devecchi carved coral and gold brooch. Arthur king Brooch Collection of Andy Warhol and Kim Klosterman Andrew Grima amethyst ring. Andrew Grima agate and tourmaline necklace. Transcript: What makes a passionate collector? For Kimberly Klosterman, it’s someone who can’t get enough of the objects they love, no matter what they are. She herself became a passionate collector of 1960s and 70s jewelry long before it became popular. Her collection is now being featured in a traveling exhibition, “Simply Brilliant: Artist-Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s.” She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the qualities that draw her to 60s and 70s jewelry; why the unique jewelry of this period has come back in style; and what aspiring collectors should do to create a thoughtful collection. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Today, my guest is Kimberly Klosterman of Kimberly Klosterman Jewelry. While she’s dealt in jewelry across a number of periods, she’s recognized for her collection of designer jewels from the 60s and 70s. Her collection is currently being featured in the museum exhibit “Simply Brilliant,” scheduled to open at the Cincinnati Art Museum on October 21. The show has already been at DIVA, which is the new diamond museum in Antwerp, as well as at Pforzheim in Germany. We’ll hear all about Kimberly’s jewelry journey today as well as about the museum exhibit. Kimberly, welcome to the program. Kimberly: Thank you. I’m so happy to be here, Sharon. Sharon: Tell us about your jewelry journey. I was looking at this beautiful catalogue, “Simply Brilliant.” It’s a standalone book, but it’s a catalogue of the show. I’m reading the review that Ruth Peltason, I think, did with you. You’ve really had such a journey if you’d tell us about that. Kimberly: I’ve been interested in jewelry for a long time and started collecting Art Deco things and different kinds of jewelry earlier on. I decided if I’m going to do this, I’d better learn a little more about what I’m getting myself into. So in 1996, I went to London and found out there was a course called “Understanding Jewelry” at Sotheby’s. I thought, “This might be a great thing for me to do. I’ve been a Sotheby’s student before, and I learned a lot the first time around.” This was a course that lasted five or six weeks and Amanda Triosi was teaching it. So, my husband and I went to London and I took the course. It was great. It was the history of jewelry. It was a lot of fun. I do have an art background, so it was easy to pick up on the jewelry she was talking about. We had great speakers, but one thing that stood out for me was that I was exposed to the artists’ jewelry of the 1960s and 1970s, and that happened in two ways.  One of our projects for extra points was to go see a show at Hancocks in London, and that was an Andrew Grima retrospective. I went to the show, and I was completely bowled over. I was almost shaking when I saw the jewelry there. I walked in, looked at it, and the man behind the counter was very tall and dapper, a really elegant man, and he looked at me and saw my enthusiasm and said, “Would you like to meet the artist?” I said, “Oh yes, that would be fantastic,” and he extended his hand. It was Andrew Grima. That was my first exposure to that kind of jewelry. Up until then, if you think about what was happening the mid-90s, everybody was into white gold and small jewelry and little, tiny things. Here were pieces that were big and bold and gold, and all kinds of materials were used instead of precious and semiprecious stones. It was a real eye-opener. The other thing is Amanda, who has become a very close friend, at the time when I was her student, she took some of us back to her little apartment in London and said, “Would you like to see my jewels?” I said, “Oh sure, that would be great.” So, she reached behind the radiator and pulled out these hot jewels, and they were incredible. She had a necklace by Gilbert Albert and Andrew Grima pieces and a host of things I had never laid my eyes on. The other few students that were with us didn’t get it at all. I immediately responded to it, and I knew that was a path I wanted to carve out for myself.  At the time, I was taking a bit of a break from my family business, which is Klosterman Baking Company. My husband and I were in Europe, and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I woke up one morning and said, “I know; I’m going to sell jewelry.” I took the previous stuff I had collected, which actually turned out to be a lot better than I thought, and started selling that, but with an eye to look for these other jewels. I think one thing that was so amazing to me is how difficult it was to source that material from the 60s and 70s. I didn’t realize until some years later that the reason was because it simply wasn’t out of the jewelry boxes yet. It hadn’t come into the marketplace, and if it did, it was probably scrapped pretty quickly, as they were heavy pieces of gold. So I went on this quest, but it took quite a while to build a collection. If you are thinking about this jewelry in today’s marketplace, say for the past four or five years, it’s everywhere, but it was very difficult to source in the beginning. I made a little booklet on my iMac that I used to take to shows on the jewelry I was collecting. This was before we had cellphones. I would take it around with me to shows and show various dealers, “If you get anything like this, call me. Here’s my card.” That’s how I started collecting. Sharon: Did you get a response from dealers? Did they say, “Oh, I’ve had that in my drawer for ages”? Kimberly: I did have a funny thing happen one time in Miami. I was wearing a piece of jewelry by Arthur King, and I really like King’s work. He’s an American jeweler that started working in the late 40s. He started out as a studio jeweler making his own jewelry in Greenwich Village, right on the same street as Sam Kramer and— Sharon: Art Smith? Kimberly: Art Smith, yes. He was right in that group. I think he went to Florida right after that and eventually started working in gold. He started hiring other bench jewelers to help him as well. He had a place in Cuba. He had a couple of different stores in Florida, and he was also showing at Fortnum & Mason in London. He’s a very interesting jeweler to me, but anyway, back to the Miami Beach, Florida Antique Show. I was wearing an Arthur King piece, and one of the dealers looked at me and said, “Do you like that stuff?” and I said, “Yeah, I do.” She said, “I have these things in my safe.” It ended up being a number of pieces that came directly from Louise King, Arthur’s wife, and she had them on consignment. I bought those pieces and started my friendship with that dealer, who down the road would show me things like that when she got them.  Sharon: I’m sure people were surprised because that stuff was so out of fashion when you started collecting it. Kimberly: It really was. The other dealer stories are a total crackup. I say my best pieces came out of people’s big and ugly boxes. You would go to the show, and they’d have this box, big and ugly.  Sharon: Today it’s not white gold, but it’s still tiny, little pieces. I call it Brentwood jewelry.  That’s an affluent area near here. I’m knocking somebody’s jewelry, not any particular designer, but I don’t understand; it doesn’t show up. Why are you wearing it? That’s all. Kimberly: I’ve always said it’s funny about jewelry. I learned a long time ago that people that wear big jewelry don’t necessarily have to be big people. A lot of times different jewelers would say, “Oh well, you need a big woman for that,” and I said, “No, you need a big personality.” Some of the people I know that wear the biggest jewelry happen be to the tiniest people. Sharon: That’s true with art jewelry being made out of plastic or wood. It’s big, but it may be a little more out there, avant garde. I remember at a gallery, there was a small, very elegant woman telling me how she would have to convince her clients they could wear this stuff. They didn’t have to be big women, like you’re saying. You mentioned Graham Hughes. Tell us who this is and how he influenced your collecting or your path. Kimberly: Graham Hughes was in the late 50s at Goldsmiths’ Hall. His father had been at Goldsmiths’ Hall and Graham followed in his father’s footsteps. This is in London. Graham was initially involved with the silver department there, but he had a real love of jewelry and decided this would be a good avenue for Goldsmiths’ Hall to go down to start a collection of jewelry. He was very passionate about it and has written a number of books on the history of jewelry. I always liked his take on things. We just seemed to have the same taste. Even in his historic collection of jewels that he chose to picture in his books, they were always the best; they’re just great. He was a bit of a character, from what I understand.  I never did get to meet him, but he got together with some people at the V&A. They started talking in the late 50s about putting an exhibition of jewelry together, and they didn’t want to do just any jewelry. They thought jewelry was boring, staid; “What can we do to shake it up?” This little group initially said, “I know. We’ll get artists to make jewelry. We’ll commission artists to make jewelry and we’ll have this exhibition.” They talked about that, and the more they talked about it—it was actually Graham, I believe, that said, “No, we can’t do that, because artists don’t always understand how jewelry hangs on the body or how it attaches to clothing because they’re artists; they’re not jewelers.” He said, “We need to reach out to people that are jewelers making amazing jewelry already, people making one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that are thinking outside the box.”  There were a couple of different reasons; I don’t know exactly what they were. Health was one issue. One of the people had a health issue, and something else happened at the V&A where they were going to cancel the show. Instead, Graham proposed that they have the show at Goldsmiths’ Hall, and everything came together. They started reaching out to people all over the world for this proposed show. I can’t remember how many countries; maybe 80 countries, something like that. Just under a thousand pieces, 900 and some odd pieces were exhibited in the show when it happened in 1961. It was also a historic show because it showed works by René Lalique, Chaumet, some other big houses. It was kind of a survey in that area, but the idea was modern jewelry, 1890-1961. Sharon: I want to make sure everybody knows that the V&A is the Victoria and Albert Museum. Kimberly: Anyway, this put a lot of people in the limelight. People like Arthur King exhibited from America in that show; Andrew Grima exhibited; just a whole host of people. Those people helped inform my collection. The catalogue he wrote that accompanied the exhibition as well as the book that followed it became the Bible for my collection, my wish book. Sharon: I want to ask you something else, a small detail. Amanda Triosi’s class, was that every day for five or six weeks or once or twice a week? Because if it was every day, wow!  Kimberly: It was five days, and it was great. We had the best speakers and great field trips. It was really wonderful. Sharon: Wow! I’m ready. Sign me up. That sounds wonderful. I’m curious if today you go to some social event and wear your jewelry, do people understand it more than they did 10, 15 years ago? Kimberly: I think so, absolutely! If you look in today’s marketplace, heck, go to TJ Maxx and look in the case. So much jewelry is influenced by what was happening in the 60s and 70s, whether these contemporary jewelers know it or not. It has definitely come back around. Uncut stones, rough diamonds, textured gold, bigger, bolder items; all of these things have come back into the marketplace, and yellow gold again as opposed to white gold. Sharon: Was there a time, maybe 20, 25 years ago, when friends, people at social events, would say, “What is that?” Was there no understanding or appreciation? Kimberly: I think overall people do appreciate it more than they did. To my face they didn’t tell me they didn’t get it, but it’s been interesting working with different people on the exhibition that maybe weren’t exposed to this kind of jewelry before, even possibly the curator at the art museum, Cynthia Amnéus, who wrote the book, or Ruth Peltason, who’s also writing a book on 1960s and 1970s jewelry and did the interview with me in our book. I have educated them to the point where they really like the jewelry now.  Sharon: It definitely grows on you. Kimberly: It does, and I think that’s true with anything. People tend to like what they know, not know what they like. Sharon: That’s interesting. That could lead into a whole different discussion. Did somebody have to teach us to love Art Deco jewelry, or is that just something that is beautiful? Kimberly: You know what? I think it’s just beautiful. I remember declaring, after I graduated from my “Understanding Jewelry” course at Sotheby’s, that I knew what I was going to sell: Cartier Art Deco, because it’s the best. Well yeah, everybody else thought so, too. So, I carved out a niche for myself that was remotely different. Sharon: It must have been easier to source at least, Cartier Art Deco. A lot pricier I would think, but easier to source. Kimberly: Easier to source, but out of reach for me at the time. Sharon: In some of the literature I was reading about you, it says you sell to the passionate collector. What is the passionate collector to you? Kimberly: It’s anyone that can’t enough of anything. I have one friend I sell to and they’re—you know what? I think you should answer that question. You’re the collector. Sharon: I was thinking about that. Is that somebody like me who occasionally will buy—let’s say it’s out of my budget; it’s out of my reach, but it’s so beautiful I have to have it. There are a lot of things I don’t think about that way. I don’t need sports cars. I don’t need a boat. I don’t need a horse. Kimberly: I think it’s when you can’t stop. I know from my own self I’m a passionate collector. I keep thinking, “I don’t need that, but that’s fantastic.” You try to say, “Hey, I’ve got all this. I don’t need another example of this, but I need an example of this.” Sharon: I’s like as my mother used to say to me, “You have a black blouse.” Yes, I have a black blouse, but does it have short sleeves? Does it have a bow? Anyway, the other thing you talked about is jewelry by artists versus artists’ jewelry. Can you tell us a little bit more? Kimberly: The difference between an artist jeweler and jewelry by an artist is this: an artist like Calder, Goya, Dalí, etc. makes other art. They’re more passionate—I don’t know about passionate, but— Sharon: They’re artists in that way. Kimberly: They’re artists in a bigger realm. They’re making paintings and sculptures and different things, and jewelry is just a small portion of what their oeuvre is. Whereas an artist jeweler is a jeweler by trade or in the jewelry industry by trade, making one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that are in that marketplace. It’s almost like a marketplace situation. You’ve got jewelers and you have artists, but certain jewelers that we call artist jewelers are making one-of-a-kind pieces, usually, or limited pieces for the jewelry market. Does that make sense? Sharon: Yes, it is hard to define. I’ve talked to a lot of different people about what a passionate collector is and what collecting is. Someday somebody will come up with some definition that’s definite. What you’re saying makes sense. I understand what you’re saying.

Episode 133 - Part 1: The “Simply Brilliant” Jewelry of the 1960s and 1970s with Kimberly Klosterman, of Kimberly Klosterman Jewelry

What you’ll learn in this episode: Why Marc’s box art jewelry was inspired by his time working in the theater industry How Marc went from selling his work on the streets of New York City to selling them to Hollywood’s biggest celebrities Why artists have always borrowed from each other’s work Why box art is a conversation starter that breaks down barriers How every box tells a story Additional Resources: Instagram Photos: Museum of Israel Exhibition  Currently on view at SFO Airport  Marc Cohen and Lisa Berman (no relation)  About Marc Cohen: Marc Cohen is a highly regarded artist known for his wearable box art. As a former actor, stage manager and set designer, Cohen’s two-inch-square boxes resemble stage sets with three-dimensional figures and images. His one-of-a-kind pieces sit on the shelves of numerous celebrities and can be worn like a brooch or pin. The archive of Cohen’s work is housed at California art jewelry gallery Sculpture to Wear. Transcript: Inspired by his time in theater and created to resemble a stage, Marc Cohen’s box art pieces are well-known among rare jewelry lovers and Hollywood’s most famous artists, actors and producers. Part three-dimensional art, part jewelry, the two-by-two boxes feature images and tiny figures that reflect our world. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about his process for creating box art; what it was like to work with theater greats like Tom O’Horgan and Paula Wagner; and why his pieces are more than just shadow boxes. Read the episode transcript for part 2 below.  Sharon: You’ve arrived, it sounds like. Marc: It’s kind of an affirmation. Sharon: Absolutely. Do you think the boxes would be as effective if you hadn’t had this experience as a set designer or stage manager in the theater? If I sat down and made a box, I could just stick some figures in it. Do you think that really impacted your work? Marc: To answer you in an honest way, I think if I hadn’t done those things—all I did before was put little seashells in boxes. I’m skirting away from your answer, so excuse me. I think because I already was someone who had been traveling around the world and already had experiences that were theatrical, because I was meeting people and talking to people standing in the middle of the street in Paris, I was already getting the idea. It was being planted. When I got involved in theater—I also did film—I saw what that was about and how everything was in a frame. A stage in a theater on Broadway, it’s in a box. Sharon: That’s true. Marc: It all made a lot of sense to me. There are also ironies about it for me. For example, when I talked about when I was going to high school and people would look at me and think I’m an artist, what they were doing was putting me in a box. I like to think the boxes I create are about that, but they’re beyond. Once someone engages themselves in looking at it and then they end up talking to somebody, it opens up a whole other kind of thing. It breaks down that barrier that a lot of us have with each other. It came from working in theater with someone like Tom O’Horgan, who was way ahead of his time as a Broadway theater director. He did a lot of avant garde, off-off Broadway stuff. He’s no longer alive. He was my best friend in the entire world. There’s not a moment I don’t have gratitude about that friendship, but since then I’ve married. I have a beautiful wife.  My wife is a filmmaker, and she and I are developing another kind of box art. I know; we don’t make jewelry. I’m doing video with her. We have a series called Traveler’s Ball. It's on YouTube. People can watch it if they want. It’s very cutting edge. She was inspired by what I do, where I do images layered in a box. A lot of our videos have layered images. Along those lines, I have always wanted to create a box video on a small scale. A long time ago, when I first started making these things—I’m a man with a lot of information and ideas in my brain—the technology wasn’t there yet. The nanos and the microscopic things, images on the head of a pin, that wasn’t around when I first started. For example, I made three-dimensional, two-inch-square watches on a band. I don’t have one to show you—Lisa might have one—but I made these. When I was selling on the street, I would wear one and boxes on my lapel. People would see this thing on my wrist and go, “What is that?” I would show them, and they would all go, “Wow, that’s unreal! It’s big, but that’s amazing! When are you going to sell these?” I said, “I’m not ready to sell them yet.” I did eventually sell some. I only made two dozen of them in my life.  If you look at an Apple Watch, they finally did what I was thinking about doing in 1985. The only difference is theirs is a one-dimensional object you wear on your wrist. It is amazing to see somebody with an Apple Watch and all the different things it does, but for me, there’s a missing ingredient. The missing ingredient is a point of view. A point of view is putting characters in front of something, like we are in real life; people standing on the street corner talking, meanwhile the bus is going by. I always wanted to take that idea and put it on a small scale and add the element of art to it. I didn’t want it to be cookie cutter, we’re making five million Apple Watches and everybody’s going to have one. Not everyone’s going to have a Marc Cohen version of that, and I want to keep it that way. I’m famous for a lot of things, but I’m also famous for the fact that I never like to make any of these things more than once or twice. There’s something about that I only made one-of-a-kind images.  In the beginning, I used other people’s images—the fine art of appropriation. There’s a guy who’s no longer alive who I learned a lot about; his name was Joseph Cornell. Joseph Cornell is probably the grandfather of appropriation art. Rauschenberg and Warhol, when they talk about their own art and their influences, they always bring up the name Joseph Cornell. Joseph Cornell made boxes. He handmade them himself. He was an eccentric guy who lived in Utopia, New York. Think about that: Utopia, New York. Joseph Cornell was this rather interesting guy. He was a poet. He was curious. He made all these different boxes, and you can’t buy one. They’re incredibly expensive. But I’ve had people along the way say, “You’re like a modern-day Joseph Cornell.” I don’t know what that exactly means. I’m a modern-day Joseph Cornell? But they talk about what I’ve done and what I’ve accomplished. It’s an interesting thing for me that has followed me in this jewelry story. What else could I tell you? Sharon: I’m curious. Do people commission you and say, “It’s my husband’s anniversary. I want a box with us and our wedding picture with it.” Marc: Exactly. For example, Lisa Berman has a relative whose name is Virginia Apgar. Virginia Apgar is famous because she created the Apgar Score. I don’t know if your viewers know what that is, but they can look it up. There was an event Lisa was going to be doing. Lisa, being an old friend of mine, I felt like I wanted to give her a memento. There’s a forever stamp, and this is Virginia Apgar. Sharon: A frame with the brooch. Marc: A frame with the brooch in the middle, and all around are these images of Virginia. Warhol and Hockney did this thing where they took a person’s face—I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any of those silkscreens that Warhol used to do. I’m influenced by that too. That’s how I came up with this idea of making Lisa a one-of-a-kind, object of art concept.  Sharon, I want to tell you another thing: how the box art thing really started. Originally, when I first started doing things, I started a company called Still Life. Still Life was the early stages of box art, but it wasn’t in a box. It was a flat piece of plastic, circular most of the time, and it was either blue or white or green. On top of that, I would marry other things. I had little three-dimensional palm trees, and I would glue them to the surface of this round, circular piece of plastic, and then I would glue those figures I’m telling you about. I would have people at the beach. If it was a travel map, I would have people with suitcases. I had a whole series. I had like Still Life Creations Beach, Still Life Creations Travel, on and on. Still Life creation stages is how it evolved to the boxes. The point is that when I was doing Still Life, one night, I came across the idea of taking a little box and turning it into something you wear. That doorway I was speaking about earlier opened me up even further into where I am to this day. I’m still very fertile with a lot of ideas. You live in this visual world. Sharon: Right, absolutely. I love the idea that they’re door openers and conversation starters that break down barriers. It’s not easy to do in New York or anywhere, but I don’t think New York is the conversation-starting capital of the world, let’s say. Marc: Right. All the world’s a stage, and all of us are players on that stage. Some people have the ability to get on that stage and act and do, while other people are off on the side watching. They’re not as easily going to jump in. Ruth Bader Ginsberg whom we all love—who didn’t love Ruth Bader Ginsberg? What an incredibly magnificent woman. When she was out of being a Supreme Court justice, Lisa had this idea for a show. She invited all her wearable art friends to come up with a collar idea. She mentioned it to me, and I was trying to figure out what I could do with boxes to make a collar. I’m going to try to do this carefully. Behind me— Sharon: We’ll show a picture of this when we post the podcast so people can see it. Marc: Right, behind me is this. This is a series of 18 boxes in a square. I mounted it on leather. I made it in such a way that you could take this off and wear it around your neck as a necklace. My wife, who is very gorgeous—she used to be a model, among other things in her life—she wore it. Lisa has a picture of her wearing it. It’s one of those objects that, if you wear it among the other incredible collars that all of Lisa’s artists made, this is even more of a conversation piece because of the image of Ruth. In each box I put her most-known rulings, the titles of them. Wearing that, going to an opening somewhere, it’s going to draw people’s attention. That’s why I keep on saying the same thing over again: every box tells a story. Sharon: Where do you get the little figures? Do you buy them at doll stores where people make doll houses, or do you go to the toy store? Marc: It used to be a trade secret. I tried in the beginning to keep everything I did very secret, but if you’re a creative person and you buy one of my boxes, if you really want to know how I made it, you can take it all apart and figure it out. If they’re really curious, they could look at the figures, and now that we Google everything, they could find out that the figures are made in Europe. When I first started, I bought the figures at a model train store. Model train stores have everything for making dioramas.  Sharon: They’re too large for what you’re doing, but I was thinking about the little plastic toy soldiers my brother used to have. Marc: Exactly. I have made boxes bigger than two inches square to be worn. That’s easy to wear, but suddenly six inches to wear—that’s a major statement. I used to take top hats and other hats and make a whole diorama around the hat, one-of-a-kind. I made a whole bunch of those, and I sold those pretty quickly. I made sunglasses that had a whole scene in the rim of the sunglasses. They didn’t last very long because they’re fragile; the wrong windstorm and they break. That’s why the box, in the end, became the most utilitarian object to protect what was inside, the image and the little characters. There’s meaning in that, protecting ourselves. Sharon: Where are you getting your ideas from? Are you walking down the street and seeing the World Trade Center and saying, “Oh, that would be great”? Marc: That’s interesting, too. I don’t live in New York City anymore. I really wish I was living in New York City. I can’t afford it right now, but in the early days when I first was doing this, the mid-80s, early 90s when I was selling on the street, I would walk up and down all the fashion streets where all the storefronts are, a million different shops. There are boxes, but they have mannequins inside them. They are large versions of what I was doing on a small scale, and I would get inspired just by seeing what other window display people were doing. I would go to Barney’s. Barney’s uptown was amazing, the designers of the windows there. So were the windows in Tiffany. Because I’m a box artist, I see these things and they inspire me. I’d hear political news of the day, and then I’d try to match something with what was happening in the world with an image, either one I would create or one I would find and appropriate. Sharon: Do you call yourself a box artist if people ask, “What do you do?” Do you say you’re an artist or a maker of jewelry? What do you call yourself? Marc: I call myself a box artist.  Sharon: A box artist. Marc: I want to call myself a box artist. First of all, I like to think I created that name. Let’s put it another way. When I was doing what I was doing, people used to say, “Oh, it’s a shadow box,” because that’s how people can connect with the idea. Shadow boxes, if you know what they are, are mostly that. They are cardboard most of the time, and people put things in them and they create shadows against the inside of the box. When I first started making these things, everybody was asking, “What is it? What do you call it?” and I would say, “It’s a box and it has a little bit of art inside of it. It’s box art.” The name stuck, and every time people would come up to me, they’d say, “What’s your latest box art?” When you could get on the internet and Google things, I never saw the word box art in relationship to what I do, but I also never saw the word box art in relationship to anything. Once I started using the name, and when I would make my business cards and they would say, “Marc Cohen, Box Art,” then people would have that. You know how it is. The buzz gets out, so the word eventually stuck. So, I claim box art and I claim myself as a box artist. I claim myself as a lot of other things too, but some of them I can’t mention.  It’s a funny journey, all of this. Now, it’s Box Art Dreams. What is Box Art Dreams? Box Art Dreams is video, because that’s the next level. I want to get even more intimate. I’d like the store to be even bigger in its depth and in its message. One image can do that on a certain level. For the person that’s looking at it, one image can stimulate a lot of images in their head, but think about on top of it. If I have a two-inch square box and it has a little video screen inside of it, and there’s a little movie in there and there are characters standing in front of it looking at it, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make them fast enough. Sharon: It’s an interesting idea.  Marc: That’s the goal. Now, I can’t do that alone. My wife is a video maker and editor. I’m plugging Julia Danielle—she’s a genius at video. One of our goals is to take the wearable art idea and give it even more of an attraction. It’s not just on your lapel; there’s something flickering in the box. Sharon: That would be really cool, yes. Marc: If it lights up, God almighty, what people would think. That’s where I’m at. Once I do that, I don’t know. Then, the next is large-scale exhibition. Starting with little boxes and leading me on a journey of jewelry and art. Sharon: I do want to mention, for those who are interested, that your boxes at this stage are with Lisa at Sculpture to Wear. We’ll also be posting a link and a lot of other information about today. It’ll be with the podcast. Marc, thank you so much. That was just so interesting. Marc: I appreciate it. Thank you. I want to tell you I’m honored for what you’re doing. Sharon: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.  

Episode 132: Every Box Tells a Story: Marc Cohen’s Box Art Jewelry with Art Jeweler, Marc Cohen- Part 2

Episode 132: Every Box Tells a Story: Marc Cohen’s Box Art Jewelry with Art Jeweler, Marc Cohen- Part 1

Episode 131 Part 2: Make Your Website Shine: Expert Tips for Jewelry Brands with Michael Burpoe, Director of User Experience for Punchmark

What you’ll learn in this episode: Why you won’t see results if you have a “set it and forget it” mentality about your website Why jewelers should give their website as much attention as a brick-and-mortar location How jewelers can use tricks of the trade to encourage customers to purchase items online, even if jewelry is traditionally bought in person  How jewelry brands can take advantage of the new shopping feature on Instagram Why the jewelry business is more like Crate & Barrel than Sephora—and why that distinction is important About Michael Burpoe Michael Burpoe is Director of User Experience for Punchmark, a digital marketing agency that specializes in the jewelry industry. Michael created Punchmark’s UX team, which was assembled to take very specific initiatives toward fine-tuning tools and features, and improving the platform on both the front-end and back-end. Since early 2019, Michael has also headed up the strategy, planning, and execution behind Punchmark's Livestream Education program, the In The Loupe podcast, and the Punchmark Community on Facebook. Originally from Saranac Lake, NY, in Michael’s spare time you can find him practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or painting cityscapes.  Additional Resources: In the Loupe on Spotify In the Loupe on Apple Podcasts Website Blog Facebook Photos: Design Themes: Podcast Logo: Website Samples: After working with jewelry brands of all sizes for the last several years, Michael Burpoe has learned a thing or two about the strategies that make jewelry businesses more successful online. As Director of User Experience for Punchmark, Michael has helped even the most hesitant jewelers invest in their websites and reap the rewards of a fine-tuned digital marketing strategy. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to explain why selling jewelry online is only going to become more common; how to make customers feel comfortable buying luxury items online; and how jewelry companies can use digital marketing tricks to increase sales. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. Today, my guest is Michael Burpoe with Punchmark. Michael is the Director of User Experience for this marketing agency, which specializes in creating effective and compelling websites for the jewelry industry. Today, Michael will talk with us about his journey into the world of jewelry. He’ll also share with us some of the secrets about what it takes to create an effective website, one that drives revenue. Michael, welcome to the program. Michael: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Sharon: We’re so glad to have you. How did you get into the jewelry industry? I’m sure that’s not where you started out when you decided to take this path. Michael: Yeah, great question. The starting point is, I went to school for design. I went to the Rochester Institute of Technology, which is called RIT, in Rochester, New York, and while I was there I was studying graphic design. I knew I wanted to study user experience. For people who aren’t fully aware, that’s the overall shopping ease when it comes to websites. It can extend beyond that, but that’s where I was most focused. While I was doing a lot of application design and things that were related to e-commerce, I was scouted by this guy, Daniel Sirois, who is my CPO at Punchmark. He hired me on, and I’ve since found myself in a niche when it comes to e-commerce strategy and web design. I now am Director of User Experience at Punchmark. I lead our dev team as well as the overall production strategy when it comes to that.  Sharon: That’s really interesting. I’m so surprised to hear you say you went to RIT because that’s a heavy design school. All kinds of art jewelers come out of there. Michael: Yeah, it has a major, I think, in metal design as well as jewelry design. What’s crazy is they do these installation pieces. I’m sure you’re already aware of these pieces that almost orbit around the head, these really dynamic pieces. It might be one of the only master’s programs in the U.S. for jewelry design. These pieces are absolutely stunning. They almost install around the head and then have a singular earring. It’s all about how the piece is presented. It’s very fascinating. I went to a couple of their shows, unbeknownst to me that I end up in the jewelry industry in the end. Sharon: I guess I thought you’d say you studied computer science. You were saying e-commerce.  Michael: Yeah. Sharon: What does Punchmark do, and why the name Punchmark for the company? Michael: The original idea behind Punchmark, as it’s been told to me by the founders, is that a coin is just metal until it is punched with the original insignia that denotes its value. For example, a quarter is made of the same type of material as a dime; it’s just a punch that makes the difference. That’s how we see ourselves in bringing brands and businesses to life: everybody starts out, more or less, on the same footing. It’s what you add to the process that adds the value.  We try to our best to stay ahead of the cutting edge and see where the ball is going, so that way we can lead our leaders. We were one of the first people to be doing serious e-commerce websites for the jewelry industry. Now, with a lot of things shifting toward e-commerce in addition to brick and mortar, what we call an omnichannel solution has had a definite, huge rise in popularity. It’s really exciting to be a part of. Sharon: I really like that. That’s an interesting concept. It’s all the same; it’s just what size, which President is on the face. We talked a little about this, but tell us more about the transition you’re seeing with jewelers getting into the e-commerce space. Michael: Absolutely. Whenever people ask me about the shift towards e-commerce—obviously Covid had a huge impact on the jewelry industry, especially right in March 2020, the reason being that prior to those events, the vast majority of sales were done inside of brick-and-mortar stores. When I refer to jewelers, I’m referring to jewelry retailers. We also work with vendors and production companies and technology companies, but specifically jewelry retailers. They were doing so much of their business in their stores. When their stores were forced to close at that time, there was this real uncertainty about what they should be doing. I hate to say I told you so, so I won’t, but I will say that we’ve been constantly pushing people as much as possible to take their online presence seriously. One of the things we are always saying is that your online store should be considered just as important or require as much time as any of your brick-and-mortar stores. Some of our retailers, they have three brick-and-mortar stores, and their website should their fourth. That’s how we see it, and that’s because it takes a lot of work and a lot of extra stuff. Sharon: That’s a great way to look at it. It does; it takes a lot of nurturing, a lot of care and feeding to get it right. Michael: Absolutely. Sharon: I’m thinking about the dealers, maybe not so much the retailers that I’ve talked with. I remember an antique jewelry dealer telling me they had resisted for a long time even doing a website—this was years ago—and the first online sale they made was one of the largest sales they ever made. I know there’s a lot of talk about, “Well, everybody has to touch and feel,” but I think a lot of people are getting past that. What do you think? Michael: I think it comes down to who the target customers are. What you just mentioned, being loath to adapt to these online businesses, it’s very understandable. Tech is constantly changing, constantly evolving, and it can be extremely overwhelming to get into. That said, it’s like learning a language. Once you learn, you learn how to learn, and then you learn how to adapt and pick up new things. That online presence, what we’re seeing is—say you’re a 60-year-old or 70-year-old retail jeweler. Your shoppers are not all 60 to 70-year-old shoppers. A lot of the target consumers are going to be younger.  Now millennials are buying engagement rings and jewelry in general. Gen Z is starting to have enough money that they can start shopping. These generations and Gen X as well are very tech fluent, extremely tech fluent. Speaking for myself as a millennial, I was brought up with a computer. I have had the internet as a part of my life for as long as I can remember, so the idea of me spending $200, $300, $400 online for a product that I have not touched is not as foreign to me as some retailers seem to assume because it’s true for them. We’re seeing that a lot of shoppers that are coming through are first-time jewelry shoppers, first-time ring buyers.  We run a podcast; we sometimes interview consumers for engagement ring buyers, and we’re finding that people love the idea of sitting home alone. It’s the middle of the night; their significant other might be in bed, and they’re shopping online, finding information, getting an idea of what that engagement ring should look like. Whereas before, they walk into a store to buy that engagement ring, and it is intimidating because the store owner is—not breathing down your neck, but very interested. Some people just have social anxiety, and they don’t want to talk to anybody. The idea of having all that information in front of them is very attractive to them. Sharon: That’s really true. You mentioned two things I want to follow up on. First of all, you mentioned your podcast called In the Loupe, which is a great name; I love it. Michael: A jeweler’s loupe, yep. Sharon: Tell us a little bit about that. Michael: Sure. In the Loupe actually started as a different podcast called the Jeweler Survival Kit. This launched in March 2020. Like I mentioned before, there was a lot of uncertainty when it came to how the pandemic was going to impact these businesses. There was all this silence from the movers and the shakers in the jewelry industry, and we decided to come through and be like, “Alright, here’s how you do it. You should cash up your inventory by selling your unwanted products, selling them at a discount or doing Facebook sales and stuff like that.” As we did a couple of episodes of it, we realized that Coronavirus wasn’t going to go away in one month or two months. We decided to shift to In the Loupe and make it more of a podcast along the lines of educating and advocating. So, not just telling people how things worked, but also saying, “You should be doing this about emerging technologies in the e-commerce space.” We talk about things like SEO, digital marketing, selling online, stuff like that. It’s since evolved into a comprehensive look at the jewelry industry, and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of. Sharon: It sounds very interesting and necessary, but I could also visualize a lot of jewelers, retailers, manufacturers shutting it off and saying, “Forget it.” Michael: Yes, we started it like, “Alright, we’ve told you a million times that you should get SEO, which is search engine optimization. It’s how you rank higher in Google. Well, we’re going to tell you how it works.” We talk about Google and how it works, hoping that even if they don’t buy SEO with us, they start to think, “Maybe I should get SEO.”  What we’ve learned is that trepidation and hesitancy towards these techniques, that doesn’t go away in one day or one week or one month; it’s a long-term process. I see myself as a steward for the industry in that if I do my job right with In the Loupe, which is a partnership with the Smithee Group, who we coproduce it with—if I do my job right, fewer jewelry stores will fall upon hard times in this really uncertain state. More jewelry stores will adapt and be ahead of the curve instead of being behind the curve, which the jewelry industry historically has always been. Sharon: Do you have people who have worked in the jewelry industry on your team? The reason I ask because I can see prospects pushing back and saying, “What do you know about it?” Michael: We have a GIA-certified gemologist as our CEO. He actually spent a considerable amount of time in the jewelry industry working at a jewelry store. That’s how he got his founding. Also, our CTO spent a considerable amount of time in the jewelry industry— Sharon: CTO, you’ll need to explain it. Go ahead. Michael: CTO is Chief Technology Officer. The Cockerham brothers, they spent many years in the jewelry industry. They grew up at a jewelry store and have done many trips to Antwerp, Belgium for different buying trips. The reason why we got into jewelry is because we have roots in the jewelry industry and we can relate to these jewelers on a deeper basis.  Sharon: First of all, you said something and then we jumped about. You said something about “we’re going to tell you how to do it.” Could you just repeat that and then stop? Michael: Yeah. We’re going to tell you how to do it. Sharon: What you’ve told me about your team, it sounds like you have deep jewelry experience on your team. Do you find that prospective clients breathe a sigh of relief when you say that?  Michael: It depends. Punchmark was founded in 2008. We’ve been in the jewelry industry for quite a while, and we have a history in the jewelry industry and have made a name for ourselves. We call ourselves the largest online provider for jewelry websites. We have almost 500 clients, and we can see the statistics that are inside our network. I’ve seen people be, again, loath or behind the curve when it comes to pushing forward with this emerging tech, but at the same time, we’ve also taken jewelers who are very slow to adapt and turned them into making frequent sales online. It only seems impossible before you start. Sharon: That’s great. I have to remember that it only seems impossible before you start. I remember a lot that my father taught me, but one thing that always sticks in my mind and is very motivating is that he would say, “All beginnings are hard.” Michael: Yes. I also think anything that’s worthwhile in business doesn’t come out of the box, ready to rock and roll. There is some setup. It does require a little bit of hard work, and it requires some communication. You need to be on your email and, like I said before, it needs to be seen as a significant branch of your business if you want it to be a significant part of your business. The thought of, “Oh, I’m just going to load it up with some images and they’re going to sell,” well, in reverse, let’s think about it yourself. Would you buy a piece a jewelry if you have a photo of this necklace that’s going for $1,000, and you took a photo through the display box window, and it’s kind of grainy and the details about it are, “This necklace has 14-karat gold and it’s $1,000.” Well, that seems crazy. I would never buy something with that little information, because who knows? It could be a scam. How do I know the details are there? Also, it doesn’t look good.  That’s why we’re always advocating through In the Loupe saying, “If you want to sell, you almost need to market to yourself.” What would you look for in this jewelry? For me, at least, I want good photos, lots of details. I want to know everything about the piece of jewelry. I want to be assured that if I’m going to buy a $1,000 bracelet or watch or whatever have you that I am not going to get scammed. It’s real; it’s available, and I need to be assured about that. Sharon: It sounds like you are marketing to yourself. As director with user experience, you really are looking at what’s going to build that trust in terms of, “this isn’t a scam.” Let me ask you this: somebody we had on the podcast, a dealer, said they thought the most important thing when it comes to user experience is the return policy. What do you think about that? Michael: Absolutely. Return policies, warranties, shipping information, data policies, all of those accoutrements for an online sale, all of that information is what comes in for the trust factor. We can’t get around it: jewelry is a luxury good. You can even think about a wallet or a pocketbook; these are all luxury items. When it comes to that kind of stuff, you can do without it. That’s the nature of luxury; it’s a want, not a need, but what ends up happening to it is that the other factors are just as important. If I buy this watch and it breaks the first day, am I SOL or am I going to be able to come back and have it refurbished? If I need a new battery, can I come in for that? If it gets shipped to me and it gets lost in the mail, am I out $1,000? All of those things are the trust.  At least with millennials and Gen Z, we’re finding that they are so tech fluent that they know how to comparison shop much better. If they’re not shopping at your store, if they see that there’s no information and it feels like a risk, they can easily comparison shop and find the exact same product or a similar one somewhere else. That’s the battle you’re always going against. You want to have all of the checks in your box as much as possible. Sharon: I think that’s such an important point, no matter what industry. If somebody is shopping for something, whether it’s a service or whatever, and they go to one website and there’s no information or it takes a long time to load, they’re gone. That’s it; they’re on to the better website. Michael: We see that all the time with things like bounce rate. That’s the rate of someone visiting your website and then leaving within, I think, 10 seconds. That means you need to load quickly. You also need to have eye-catching imagery and what we call “above the fold,” which is the information that loads that’s visible on the screen first.  At lot of times, shoppers, they don’t even know what they want when they start shopping. They start out as an open shopper. They’re going in and they know they need to buy something for their significant other, and they know they like fancy jewelry. Well, they don’t know if they want a hoop earring or a stud; they don’t know that answer. It’s up to you to convince them and show them the way so they can shop without feeling stupid or intimidated. I think that also has to come into the above the fold information.  

Episode 131 Part 1: Make Your Website Shine: Expert Tips for Jewelry Brands with Michael Burpoe, Director of User Experience for Punchmark

What you’ll learn in this episode: How Guðbjörg has made sustainability part of every aspect of her business, from jewelry materials to packaging Why Guðbjörg is inspired by Iceland’s natural landscape, and why she encourages tourists to visit more remote parts of the country Why creating the best design often means stepping away from it Why people who want to start their own jewelry brands must constantly push themselves to come up with new ideas About Guðbjörg Kristín Ingvarsdóttir Guðbjörg Kristín Ingvarsdóttir is a goldsmith, jewelry designer and co-founder of the award-winning sustainable jewelry brand Aurum, Iceland's leading jewelry brand. Guðbjörg studied goldsmithing at Copenhagen Technical College, completing the journeyman’s examination in 1993. She then completed the master craftsman examination in goldsmithing at Reykjavík Technical College in 1994, subsequently returning to Copenhagen to study jewelry design at the Institute for Precious Metals. She ran the jewelry workshop Au-Art in Copenhagen from 1996 to 1999 in collaboration with others.  In 1999, Guðbjörg returned to Iceland and founded the design and jewelry brand Aurum. Her designs have attracted much attention worldwide and she has taken part in many international design exhibitions, both as a solo designer and as part of a group. She was awarded first prize in the jewelry competition "Spirit of the North" in St. Petersburg in 2000; received the DV Cultural Award in Reykjavík for art design in 2002; and received the Icelandic Visual Arts Award for design in 2008. In 2011, Aurum received the Njarðarskjöldur award for Best Tourist Shop of the Year and in 2015 the Grapevine Shop of the Year award. Aurum has been recommended by several international publications such as Timeout, Conde Nast Traveler, Elle, GQ and Lonely Planet. Additional Resources: Website Instagram Twitter Pintrest Photos:  Erika 5: We launched the Erika collection to commemorate our 20th anniversary, Erika encapsulates the spirit of Aurum's origins. "Picture a picnic in the Icelandic countryside. A young girl fascinated by the delicate flowers, collecting them for her mother. And writing a fairy tale in her diary about her hopes and dreams. 20 years later, Guðbjörg has drawn on these indelible memories for inspiration in creating the very special Erika Collection." Swan 455 and Swan 456: Aurum by Guðbjörg's range of luxurious 14kt gold plated and 925 silver cufflinks and wedding bands in 14kt or solid 18kt gold, are perfect for a wedding day, civil partnership or to mark an anniversary or engagement. Landscape - LAX collection: Quoted from Gudbjörg: "I love living in Iceland; all my family lives here, and my design work is continually inspired by the natural environment of the country." Pakkningar: We have resolved to introduce eco-friendly thinking into every aspect of the AURUM brand. For example, we only use recycled precious metals. Our jewellery is made here in our workshop in Iceland, and we make our gift boxes to look like the stones found on the beaches of the Western Fjords, using paper from mulberry trees, which has little to no effect on the ecosystem because the trees are not cut down – the paper is made from the leaves.   Transcript: Coming from Iceland, a country known for its pristine environment, it’s no surprise that Guðbjörg Kristín Ingvarsdóttir founded her jewelry brand on the principle of sustainability. Growing up in the remote countryside, she still turns to nature for inspiration when designing award-winning pieces for her global brand Aurum. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about what it was like growing up in Iceland; why Aurum uses only lab-grown diamonds and recycled metal; and what her advice is for young jewelers who want to start their own brands. Read the episode transcript here.   Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. Today, my guest is Guðbjörg, one of the most well-known jewelry designers in Iceland. She’s the founder and head of the jewelry enterprise Aurum. Her flagship store is in Reykjavík, but it sells in retail outlets throughout the world. Her firm is known and respected for its commitment to sustainability. We’ll hear more about her jewelry journey today. Guðbjörg, welcome to the program. Guðbjörg: Thank you. Sharon: So glad to have you. Tell us about your journey. It looks like a pretty impressive operation that you’re running. How did you come to that? Guðbjörg: I completed my German examination at Copenhagen Polytechnic in 1993. After that, I further studied jewelry design at Copenhagen Institute for Hermitage for precious materials in Copenhagen. After my study in plastics and doing some jewelry work in Copenhagen, together with four of my colleagues, I started to develop my jewelry further. The time I spent there, it gave me time to work on pieces for exhibitions. That start in Denmark gave me a lot of influence. It’s learning with precious metals as well as starting an account. The craft tradition is very strong and the design scene is very strong in Denmark, and they encouraged me to develop my ideas further, because I received a grant when I was over there. I got the time to develop the jewelry. In 1999, I returned to Iceland. The same year, I opened my design company where I could further develop my jewelry. My first collection started when I came back to Iceland. Sharon: When did you decide this is what you wanted to do, that you wanted to do jewelry? Were you doing it when you were a teenager? Were you making jewelry as a child? Guðbjörg: That’s kind of an interesting story, because I did not grow up in a typical artistic environment. I grew up in a lively house with two generations living together. My grandmother made a lot of things by hand, beautiful clothing with her sewing machine, and my mother owned her own clothing store, so I was always involved with fashion at the time. I enjoyed sewing, and I got my first sewing machine which I was 13 years old. When I was 17 or 18, I went on an exchange to the U.S., and I spent a year on Bainbridge Island in Washington. I took all the art classes I could take because I didn’t have any at home. I lived in a small town, so we didn’t have any art classes. I decided to take everything I could at the high school on Bainbridge Island. One of the classes was a jewelry class with a great teacher. After that, I found my passion, so I couldn’t think about anything else to do. When I came back to Iceland in 1998, I just wanted to be a goldsmith. That was the story to it. Sharon: Wow! First of all, what does Aurum mean? How did you come up with the name for your business? Guðbjörg: It’s a beautiful name. Aurum means gold in Latin. It’s also the most precious metal, so that was something I thought would work for my business. Aurum, for me, means ambition, understanding, responsibility, unity and mindfulness; that is what I think of when I run my business. It’s an equal opportunity company; everybody has worth in the company. Sharon: Wow! For those listening, I’d like to spell it. It’s A-u-r-u-m. Guðbjörg: Yes, it is. Sharon: Aurum. Guðbjörg: Yeah.  Sharon: You’ve won several design awards, and your business has appeared on the list of top jewelry places in Iceland. How did that come about? Did you enter a contest? How did they get to know you? Guðbjörg: It was my first prize I got. It was a competition in South Petersburg. The name of it was Spirit of the North, and it was in the year 2000 when I was just starting off my business. That was a great honor for me, to get that award as a young jeweler starting off her own brand. Sharon: Yes, I’m sure it is. Guðbjörg: It helped a lot to get recognized in Iceland. Then I received a design award in Iceland in 2008 for five of my collections. Aurum itself has gotten some awards, for the best jewelry brand in 2000 and ethical brand of the year from the Eluxe awards in 2021. Through the years, we have got some nominations and awards. Sharon: How did you decide to start your emphasis on sustainability in everything you do with the jewelry? Can you tell us about that and how you came to it? Guðbjörg: First, having grown up in Iceland, it’s this sustainable country. From the start, I have only used recycled, refined precious metals. Recently, I thought I would go into lab-grown diamonds because I want to have responsibility in every step of the company.  Sharon: So you use lab-grown diamonds? Guðbjörg: Yeah. Also, if you think about Iceland, our production is entirely based on Iceland. Iceland generates 100 percent of its energy from its resources, so there’s no place in Iceland to do that, to pick up things like the packaging. I’ve been using the same packaging from the start. It is a special packaging made from mulberry paper. This is the best paper from the mulberry tree because it does not interfere with the ecosystem, as not a single tree has to be cut down. All the leaves are used while the tree continues to grow. From the start, I wanted to use that. They are making it especially for me. I went to the company in Iceland and found the stone it was made after. The box is modeled after the stone. I picked it myself. Sharon: You have beautiful boxes. They look like rocks. Guðbjörg: Yeah, they look like rocks. Sharon: You can tell, yes. Guðbjörg: Yeah. They are made after the stone I picked myself. Sharon: Oh, wow. Tell us about your clients. Are they all from Iceland? You sell online, so I assume they’re all over the world. Guðbjörg: Yes, I’m selling all over the world. I’ve been lucky through the years; I have these great Icelandic customers that come again and again into the store. It’s an honor to be selling to the U.S. A lot of customers come from the U.S., from Australia. I’m getting more and more from Canada and Europe. We have clients all over the world, also from Asia. I think it’s because people connect with the story I want to tell. Usually when I start to develop my collection, I already have the story behind it, and then I develop the jewelry from there. People connect with it. When they come to us, when they see us and when they come into my store, they can feel it; the atmosphere is just there. Sharon: It seems like all of your jewelry is inspired by the Icelandic environment or things you see. Guðbjörg: Yes, it is. I have been inspired very much by Icelandic nature. You can really see it when you look at my jewelry. My most favorite part is the area where I grew up. I grew up where there is this very tall mountain. I spent my time on the mountain skiing when I was a child, and in the summertime, I spent my time in the countryside. I go there every summer and I get this peace. It’s a small house I’m staying at, with no energy, nothing. It’s just the sea and the mountain and we have a place there. There I get the peace to develop my ideas, and the energy there provides me with creative ideas and space. It’s also the space. It feels like you are alone there. For me, there’s nothing better than losing myself in this wilderness, sensing the beauty and experiencing the forms while lying there. It takes these fantastic shapes, and then I turn them into little treasures. This is mostly where I get my ideas. Of course, I have worked with some museums in Iceland and worked with some artists such as a sculptor. I have made jewelry after her glass sculptures. I have also worked on other ideas, but nature is the most inspiring for me. Sharon: It sounds like your head must be full of ideas because you’re surrounded by such beauty there. I can see how it would be an endless source of inspiration waking up in the countryside. I was just in Iceland and besides your store, I visited the place you mentioned. I will never be able to pronounce it. To somebody like me in Los Angeles, it’s beautiful, but it’s also in the middle of nowhere. Guðbjörg: Yeah, it’s all this nature. Later I noticed, when I started my studies, how influenced I was by my growing up in this place. It was quite isolated when I was living there; not so much now, but at that time it was.  Sharon: It still seems fairly remote. That must have been a shock—when you came to Bainbridge Island to study, how was that coming from Iceland?  Guðbjörg: That was special because I had gone once after Iceland. I didn’t speak much English, so it was a challenge, but I stayed with a wonderful family that helped me get in world with everything there. It’s a beautiful island so I was lucky. They were really artistic. He was an architect, and they were involved with acting. I went to a Shakespeare play and all that; I saw my first ballet in Seattle. I was excited with the new creative things over there. It was very special coming from such a small town. Sharon: How do you think people who visit, especially from the states, what’s their stereotype of Iceland? People have said to me, “Was there ice all over the ground?” How do people see Iceland? Are they surprised when they talk to you about Iceland when they’re visiting? Guðbjörg: When I went in 1988, 1989 to the U.S., people didn’t know anything about Iceland, but now people have the internet, so they know a lot. I think people know a lot today when they come into the store. Maybe they get surprised when they go out in the countryside to smaller towns and so on, but Reykjavík is very close to our city. Sharon: Yeah, it is. Guðbjörg: With fashion and all, we are really up to date with everything, I would say.  Sharon: Iceland’s become the place to visit. Guðbjörg: Yes, it’s a beautiful country. I understand because I want to be in Iceland during the summertime. There’s almost nowhere else I would like to spend my summer because it’s such a beauty. We go fishing and hiking. We do a lot of things here. Sharon: It’s gorgeous. When I looked at it on the map, it was so small. What would your advice be to young jewelers, young designers? To me, it takes a lot of guts to come back to Iceland and say, “I’m going to start my jewelry company.” What would your advice be to people starting out? Guðbjörg: It’s a challenge to do, but when I came back from Denmark, I wanted to show new ideas because I have a lot of jewelry business in Iceland. It’s to believe in yourself. What I have been doing, I always push myself further and develop new ideas. I never stop, actually. I’m always working because I love what I’m doing. I think that’s a big part of it, to like what you are doing. It’s always exciting to my mind, developing a new collection. It takes time. It sometimes takes a year, sometimes two years. Sometimes it has to be sitting on my desk for more than two years, then I get the idea how to work on it further. Sometimes it’s just a short time. It has always been important for me to push myself, to not be stuck in older ideas, to work on new ideas. That’s always exciting. Sharon: I’m always impressed when I meet somebody who has a belief in themselves and the confidence to say, “O.K., I’m going to do this. I realize that are challenges and there are roadblocks, but this is what I want to do,” and push through it.  Guðbjörg: Yeah, I enjoy this journey. It has to be amazing, I think, because I wouldn’t be doing anything else other than this. Knowing that when you are 80 years old, that’s special. I think today because people have so many choices, it’s difficult to find what you want. I have three daughters: one is 24, one is 18 and one is eight, and everything is changing. It’s difficult for people to find their passion. I think it’s most difficult to find your passion and work on it. It takes time. Just give it time. Sharon: That’s great advice. Thank you so much for sharing that. It’s been such a pleasure to talk with you. Guðbjörg: You, too. Sharon: I hope our paths will cross again soon. Guðbjörg: You’re always welcome. Sharon: Thank you so much. We will have images posted on the website. You can find us wherever you download your podcasts, and please rate us. Please join us next time, when our guest will be another jewelry industry professional who will share their experience and expertise. Thank you so much for reading. Thank you again! Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.      

Episode 130: How Icelandic Jewelry Brand Aurum Became a Leader in Sustainability with Guðbjörg Kristín Ingvarsdóttir, Award Winning Goldsmith

Episode 129: What Are You Selling, Really? Developing Your Jewelry’s Brand with Pam Levine, CEO and Brand Experience Expert of Levine Luxury Branding

Episode 128: What It Takes to Become a Master Goldsmith with Master Goldsmith, Kent Raible

Episode 127: New Luxury: Making Jewelry that Puts Meaning Over Value with Art Jeweler & Author, Nicolas Estrada

Episode 126: Heavy Metal: How Atelier Zobel Uses Traditional Goldsmithing Techniques to Create Beautiful Jewelry with Peter Schmid, Owner of Atelier Zobel in Konstanz, Germany

Episode 125: New Book Highlights McClelland Barclay’s Little-Known Costume Jewelry with Author, Patricia Gostick

Episode 124: Jewelry and Shoe Lovers Unite: What Our Accessories Represent with Dr. Kimberly Alexander, University of New Hampshire Faculty

Episode 123: Rob Koudijs Gallery: Moving Our Jewelry From Niched to Noticed with Founder & Owner, Rob Koudijs

Episode 122: 40 years of Galerie Marzee: Still Influencing Art Jewelry with Marie-José Van Der Hout, Founder & Director of Galerie Marzee

Every day, people surround us wearing art, history, and culture, but we usually don’t pay attention. Most people think about jewelry as an afterthought or accessory. But jewelry can tell a larger story, one reflecting the connection between contemporary culture and that of yesteryear. Is jewelry clothing, art, status symbol, or something more? The jewelry world seems to be hidden in plain sight and little understood. The Jewelry Journey podcast explores the many aspects of jewelry and its status as art. We talk with those who live and breathe this form of adornment: makers, dealers, gallerists, academics collectors and more. The goal is to elevate the conversation beyond Etsy or big diamonds and see jewelry in a new light, so that we can appreciate the little pieces of wonder that float by each day.

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Jewelry Journey Podcast

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