New York City. Feb. 25, 2021. Studio jeweler Elizabeth Garvin’s lifelong love of patterns paved the way for an appropriately named new jewelry collection: Stripe. From decorative edges to entire surfaces, every piece speaks to its apt name.
In fact, Garvin’s own family could have unknowingly had a glimpse of her lifelong obsession in a photograph of the maker at age four: she dressed herself in a busy-looking ensemble of stripes, calico prints, and polka dots, much to her mother’s dismay. “I loved putting on that outfit when she wasn’t looking,” Garvin reveals. “I find patterns exciting to the eye, and months into the pandemic, I found that I finally had time to focus on a Stripe collection.”
Borrowing childhood inspiration from her onetime handiwork with crayons—remember coloring layers and overlapping shades?—Garvin creates Stripe styles through a subtractive process on bimetal she makes herself. No commercial grade stuff for this bench jeweler.
“Our gold is 0.25 mm—in jewelers’ terms that is quite thick—and is laminated at high temperatures to silver,” she explains of her house-made material. “Then a pattern of stripes is drawn onto the surface with a scribe and the gold is engraved, removing material until the silver layer beneath is cleanly exposed.”
For sure, she wanted a significant surface treatment that was deeply engraved and clear to see. What’s not visible? The amount of time it takes to make a single Stripe jewel.
“It takes forever so these should last forever,” Garvin jokes about a process that literally lasts weeks. It starts with recycling her own scrap and fresh 18k gold casting grain, melting equal amounts into ingot and then rolling out into sheet. Once ready, her bimetal styles can take hours to engrave.
To date, more than 50 styles are available in oxidized sterling and 18k yellow gold, but rose gold is en route. Gemstones include radial-cut quartz, blue topaz, black and colorless diamonds, beryl, tourmaline, and rutilated quartz. Retail prices start at $900.
Stripe is in select stores now and is available for sale on Garvin’s website. Bonus: she has a three-day online sales event happening this weekend, an affair with benefits for JH readers. Garvin is offering a 15 percent discount on all orders placed from Feb. 26 through Feb. 28 with the coupon code JH (all uppercase). The discount applies to every piece listed for sale.
Stripe ring in 18k gold and oxidized sterling silver with 0.9 ct. t.w. diamonds and a hand-fabricated, stipple-textured and engraved surface, $1,630; available online at Elizabeth Garvin
Stripe earring in 18k gold and oxidized sterling silver with 8.1 cts. t.w. bezel-set, radial-cut blue topaz center with a hand-fabricated, stipple-textured and engraved surface, $1,650; available online at Elizabeth Garvin
Stripe ring in 18k gold and oxidized sterling silver with rutilated quartz and a hand-fabricated, stipple-textured and engraved surface, $2,070; available online at Elizabeth Garvin
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