My collection is drawn from history, architecture, Nantucket, and the natural world. I am inspired by the ancient 24 carat gold jewelry found in temple treasuries and tombs. I love the rich color and feel of 24 carat gold. Museum antiquities sections worldwide hold these exquisite pieces precisely because they are some of the most impressive and durable objects that have survived through the ages.

Traveling the world, I am drawn to the jewelry traditions of different cultures, collecting pieces rich with history and artistry. I find it fascinating to study each place’s material culture—what iconography resonates, and why? What does a culture value? What are its belief systems? How did people live? These questions shaped my understanding of jewelry not just as adornment, but as a reflection of identity, tradition, and meaning.

Over time, I began making jewelry for myself, inspired by what I had seen and learned. Friends started noticing, asking if I could create pieces for them, and before I knew it, they were encouraging me to sell my designs. What began as a personal passion evolved organically into a business—one rooted in craftsmanship, history, and a love for timeless materials.

My collaboration with a master goldsmith who uses age-old techniques and tools has produced a unique collection of pieces. Like comparing hand-blown glass to mass-produced glass, this hand-made collection of my designs has a character and quality all of its own.

I have found high carat gold jewelry to be especially beautiful. It is the benchmark of fine jewelry in some of the oldest cultures in the world—even now. In ancient places like China, India, Iran, Turkey, and the middle east, high carat jewelry is the bar to which all jewelry is measured.

Some ancient jewelry was dug up quite accidentally when modern developers were in the process of building something new. Imagine being an archaeologist and opening a tomb to find perhaps several hundred pieces of gold jewelry and other artifacts. The gold is often the best preserved of the ancient pieces found because it doesn’t decay when buried. Ancient people thought that pure 24 carat gold—right from the ground—had a certain spiritual and even religious purity because it didn’t want or need man’s intervention to make it beautiful. It came from the earth already beautiful.

In reading about the ancient jewelry found at Oplantis, an archeological site near Pompeii, I was fascinated to learn all that the discovery of jewelry among the victims of the 79AD Vesuvius eruption had to tell us. Similar jewelry sets were found on two young mothers, suggesting that that was the style for young mothers of a certain class to wear. There were silver and gold versions of like pieces, suggesting that one might wear one for dress and the other for more casual occasions or that the metal varied depending on the owner's resources. Some pieces looked very similar to the eye but were made for different markets or by craftsmen of different skill levels. One pair of earrings made of simple gold foil and another made of a much more substantial piece of gold would have had very different price points even then and probably reflected the tastes and disposable income of the owner.  Just like today, jewelry varies in material, quality, and value. 

One of my favorite facets of looking at jewelry through the lens of history is that not much has changed. In Ancient Rome, it was not unusual for jewelers to engrave utere felix on jewelry, which means "use this happily" in Latin. It’s not a far stretch to think that, while the phrase is a lovely sentiment, it may also be the precursor to what we often say today: "wear it in good health."

In “Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero”, Courtney Ward points out evidence for some of the mores around the wearing of jewelry that we might recognize today.

An ancient text shows that- 

“Pliney the Elder, for example, disparaged the emperor Caligula’s wife, Lollia Paulina, for attending an ordinary betrothal party inappropriately adorned with emeralds and pearls worth  40 million sestertii. Interestingly, Pliny did not criticize the cost of Lollia’s jewelry, only that she  wore it at an occasion that did not warrant such finery.” (Page 174). Pliney (23/24AD -79AD).

This reminds me of the quote attributed to Coco Chanel, in which she is supposed to have said that a woman should get dressed, add her layers of accessories and jewelry, and take off one piece before leaving the house.

Or, an old Upstairs, Downstairs episode in which Lady Marjorie teaches her new lady’s maid her new role. at a weekend house party on a country estate, the maid hands her an extraordinary diamond necklace and Lady Marjorie responds, “Never diamonds in the country, dear”.  

While the longitude and latitude of wearing jewelry may have changed, it hasn’t changed much! We are still attracted to quality, artistry, design, and precious materials. My pieces' original design and handmade character are exceptional and worthy of being found a couple of thousand years from now—Somewhere, Somehow.