October 2022

I’d already heard so much about the Italian Jewelry Manifesto, and, with the promise of seeing 50 designers and makers from Vicenza, Valenza, Arezzo, Orvieto, and beyond—right in the heart of midtown Manhattan—I decided I had to check it out for myself.

I’m so glad I did. The venue, Piazza Italia on Madison Avenue, was light, bright, and spacious. Intimidation factor: low. Energies were high, smiles were abundant. There were super-high heels and well-tailored suits. And so much gold. Piles and piles of it being worn or laid out on velvet-lined trays.

The event was not bustling when I was there last week, but I was told that many retail buyers were in attendance. The pace of my visit was easy and allowed plenty of time for discovery, questions, and conversations.

Let’s get into the pretty things I saw.  I’ll start with what I think will be most helpful to readers planning to attend Las Vegas Jewelry Week next month: three Italian Manifesto designers who will also be exhibiting at Luxury and JCK Las Vegas.

There was the Arezzo, Italy-based brand Neonero (booth 21026B), which has the most beautiful gold pieces inspired by the lacework traditions of Tuscany. Light-as-air openwork unites the many, many SKUs in the collection (I fell madly in love with a pair of swingy chandelier earrings dangling strands of buttery, shimmery fringe that I can confirm are very well priced, especially for 18k).

Forme Preziose bracelet in 18k gold, $5,225; Neonero

Boccadamo (booth 23007) has a massive catalog of options, all heavy on “chic Italian lady” fashion jewelry and statement parures set with colorful cabochons.

Caleida collection necklace and bracelet in rose gold–plated bronze with CZ and pyramidal colored crystals, prices on request; Boccadamo

And I’d heard about Marco Dal Maso (exhibiting with the Gioielli Group, LUX 630) from Reinhold Jewelers, who named them a must-see as far men’s and unisex jewelry when I interviewed one of the store’s executives for this story. Some men’s ranges feel kind of one-note and generic, but the options here are so elevated and diverse: braided leather; tough-luxe links; hard stones such as lapis, onyx, and aventurine; and a million unexpected details worked into the metals that make each piece feel distinctive and special.

Ara ring in 18k vermeil and burnished silver, $317; Marco Dal Maso

My favorite discovery at the show came from Vicenza-based Peruffo Jewelry, where everything was an architectural, innovative, and masterfully executed delight. Maybe I just haven’t seen Italian-made jewelry in a while, but the ring below, in particular, made me giddy. I love when the jewelry is so good I have a visceral reaction!

You can’t tell from the photo below, but it moves with absolute precision as you shake your hand about (see photo at top for a sense of this).

Slide Sunset ring in 18k gold, $ 1,570; Peruffo

Here are some more finds from my little vacanza in jewelry heaven below.

Seed necklace in 18k yellow gold, $11,820; Orogami

One-of-a-kind leather bracelet with circa 1880 shell cameo in an antique 14k yellow gold frame, $5,800; Anna Porcu

Reef Party ring in 18k gold–plated sterling silver with CZ pavé and red coral enamel, $225; Misis

Lightray pendant in 18k gold with white and brown diamonds, and Roman micro mosaics, $21,000; Le Sibille

Sunflower ring in 18k yellow gold set with brown and yellow diamonds and green sapphires, $19,250, and Pink Rose ring in 18k rose gold with pink sapphires, $8,925; both Angry for Vittorio & Co.

Assorted Archetti collection rings in 18k rose gold with diamonds and sapphires, $1,500 to $4,500 each, Fiore Roberta

Top: The Slide Sunset ring from Peruffo has moves to spare (photo by @aelliott718).

Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine

You never know who you’re going to run into at a trade show, especially if it’s open to the public. But between the lookie-loos and chatty Cathys, you could end up making a very fortuitous contact. Maybe it’s a stylist or a member of the press.

In Los Angeles, it very well could be someone from the costume design department of a major TV show. That’s what happened to Bay Area–based vintage jewelry dealer Lisa Kramer of Lisa Kramer Vintage when the assistant to costume designer Hala Bahmet stopped by her booth early last year at the Pickwick Vintage Show. As Kramer soon learned, Bahmet is the costume designer for NBC’s This Is Us. You may have heard of it.

If you’ve been watching season six of the hit show, you may have seen some of Kramer’s jewels in action. “On a show like This Is Us, because it’s a large cast with a storyline that happens over multiple time frames, the costume department needs a lot of stuff, but it can’t be very expensive,” says Kramer, who also explained these pros aren’t borrowing or renting jewels, they’re purchasing them. “The show more or less takes place from the 1950s through the present day, and I had a lot of very affordable costume jewelry inventory that I’ve collected over the years.”

Over the next few months, Kramer would make the drive to L.A. to meet Bahmet for a series of appointments. But not on the Paramount studio lot, which restricted visitors due to the pandemic. “We met in the garden of her house, and she was remarkably fast, choosing the pieces in under an hour,” she says. “Every time, I would bring about 15 to 16 trays, and she would buy about two trays’ worth of of jewelry.”

Mandy Moore of This Is Us
wears an Israeli silver necklace from the 1970s that Lisa Kramer purchased at an antiques show in 2019.

After six seasons, the series finale of This Is Us will air on May 24. So now seemed like the perfect time to get to know Kramer a little better. Check out our conversation below (the responses have been lightly edited for clarity).

It must have been quite something to observe Hala Bahmet curating her This Is Us selects from your piles of jewels. Did you learn anything from the experience?

One of the things I learned from Hala is they have to be very careful about high-shine metal. There’s a character who plays the wedding planner in the show, and she’s wearing a big, gorgeous silver necklace. On-screen it looks like it’s an amazing designer piece, but in person the finish was dull, which ended up being to its advantage on camera because you have to be careful of the flare from lights reflecting and also the metal’s surface catching a reflection of the cameraperson or other actors. Sometimes she would look at a necklace, and it would have too many moving, dangling parts, which are a problem because of continuity—if they’re filming a scene and doing a distance shot, and then refilming it for a close-up, you don’t want any elements of the jewel to have moved. Jewelry that moves and dangles can also be too noisy—the mic picks up everything.

Actress Briana Venskus wears a silver necklace that was perfect for the camera thanks to the dull finish it acquired with age.

Let’s talk about your career path. How did you end up in the world of vintage and estate jewelry?

I had a long career working as an architect and construction manager. I’ve loved vintage clothing and jewelry since I was a teenager, and about 20 years ago, shortly after I purchased my house, I started going to a lot of auctions and estate sales, and I started seeing and buying all this great vintage clothing and jewelry. A friend was running a little vintage clothing shop and having monthly sales out of her garage, and she asked me if I wanted to set up card table and sell my goods. I did—and I loved it! So I started buying and selling a bit more, just as a side business. And then in 2012, I got laid off and had to really decide if I wanted to look for another full-time job. My aging parents were in Florida and going back and forth to visit them takes a lot of time. Starting a new job would get me back to two weeks of vacation per year, so I decided to make the vintage jewelry enterprise my primary business. Because, by that point, I had pretty much stopped selling clothing and was focused on jewelry. And now that it’s a full-time job, I’m selling a lot more mid- to higher-end pieces.

What would you say your specialty is as a vintage jewelry dealer? What are you known for?

I think what I am known for is that I love researching the jewelry I sell.  I love learning about and identifying things from different eras. In terms of aesthetics, I tend to like older pieces that have a sleek and modern feel. I spread across a large number of eras and don’t specialize in a time frame. But I like pieces that are design driven and that very much speak to their era. I tend to go for a cleaner aesthetic, although there are things that are very elaborate. For instance, I love archaeological revival jewelry, which also is part of my background. My undergraduate degree [from the University of Pennsylvania] is in anthropology, where I was focusing a good portion of my studies on archaeology. As a work-study job, I assisted one of the faculty members who was an Egyptologist and spent one summer participating in a dig.

“I am particularly fond of antique jewelry that has a surprisingly modern feel, like this late Georgian chain,” says Kramer of this gold chain featuring an impressed pattern of interlocking circles on each link.

Do you make a beeline for signed jewels? What designers are you always theoretically on the hunt for?

I’m more focused on aesthetics. I first go for the visual, and then I see what the marks are and what they tell me. I tend to go for more unusual pieces. After the design, I look to the materials. So, for instance, I love the brutalist work of the sculptor Pal Kepenyes, who worked in bronze. The material has absolutely no intrinsic value, but I love the sculptural quality of his jewelry. I probably differ from a lot of other jewelry sellers in that I actually feel that focusing on intrinsic value can detract from appreciating the artistry in jewelry. It’s nice when it’s made in gold, but I think people should buy a piece because they think it’s beautiful. And makes them feel good.

What are the most treasured pieces in your personal collection?

One is a 1960s bracelet that was my mother’s, and one is a watch bracelet that was my paternal grandmother’s. They’re treasured for sentimental reasons. In terms of what I end up wearing the most, I’m an earring person. I recently acquired an incredible pair of Victorian earrings in gold with fine lines of blue and black enamel. They’re Victorian visually, but there’s something also very modern-looking about them.

I know vintage jewelry doesn’t really lend itself to trend tracking, but have you observed any shifts in consumer tastes that might be helpful to JCK’s audience of jewelry professionals?

I think you’re probably aware that for the past few years it’s been all about gold, and it’s been charms and chains. But I do think I’m beginning to see the start of a trend toward silver jewelry. I can’t tell you any details, but there’s one piece I sold a couple of months ago that ended up on the red carpet at the 2022 Oscars. Silver. That was a real shock and not something I would have expected to see! You can get bigger, more sculptural pieces in silver. To get anything of size in gold—if it’s going to be real gold—it’s just going to be an absolute fortune. I know some people don’t consider silver fine jewelry. But silver is still a precious metal.

What’s on your show calendar this year? Where can we shop with you in person?

 I’ll be in Los Angeles monthly for the Pickwick Vintage Show with the exception of June because I’m finally taking a vacation. I’m thinking about doing the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry show in October, and possibly the Manhattan Vintage Show in October as well. And there’s also the Hillsborough show [in San Mateo, Calif.] in November.

Top (clockwise, from left): Former architect and construction manager Lisa Kramer started her vintage jewelry business out of a friend’s garage. “A massive modernist ring” by Juha Koskela, a Finnish jewelry designer known as a modern master of anticlastic raising, which is a “a metalworking technique in which sheet metal is shaped into complex curves that are at right angles to each other,” according to Kramer. A mid-20th-century brooch by Marsh and Co., “a pioneer in the use of blackened steel in fine jewelry,” says Kramer. Prices on request. (All photos courtesy of Lisa Kramer Vintage; This Is Us screenshots used with permission from the NBC costume department.)

Follow me on Instagram: @aelliott718

Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine

Late last week, Banter by Piercing Pagoda announced that Grammy-nominated rapper, songwriter, and artist Tierra Whack has assumed the role of the brand’s first-ever creative director. It’s a yearlong gig that has been kicked off with a jewelry collaboration that places Whack’s distinctive, bold, and unapologetic style (in both rap and aesthetics) at the heart of the collection with pieces that are offbeat and irreverent, whimsical and playful, and just plain charming.

With nearly 800,000 Instagram followers, a ton of catchy, colorful hits, and a Grammy nomination (for her Mumbo Jumbo video in 2019), Whack’s involvement is for sure the headline here. But a compelling part of the story is that jewelry designer Malyia McNaughton (a rising star in the indie designer space) was the creative who translated Whack’s ideas into a cohesive jewelry collection.

Designer Malyia McNaughton of Made by Malyia

McNaughton, a member of the Black in Jewelry Coalition, was part of the inaugural Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative (EDDI), the new program powered by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) and Lorraine Schwartz that is being sold at Greenwich St. Jewelers.

When Banter reached out to McNaughton last fall to discuss the collaboration, she didn’t know who the celebrity creative director would be.

“When I found out it was Tierra, I was thrilled because I’ve always been a fan of her music,” says McNaughton. “And the way that she’s super creative in expressing herself, it was the perfect collaboration for me.”

Banter was keen to work with McNaughton because of her popular Progression hoops. “They’re very gold-rich in their in their collections, so they thought that the collaboration would be a great fit for me. And when they reached out, it was a dream come true because when I was growing up, Piercing Pagoda was my introduction to jewelry. I received a bracelet from my aunt, who’s no longer with us, as a graduation gift, and it came from Piercing Pagoda. I started my brand because I wanted to make accessible statement jewelry that could be worn by a wider audience. And this opportunity really allows me to do that.”

The collection is priced from $95 to $1,750.

And working with Whack? “When I saw her notebook, I wasn’t intimidated by the fact that it was a lot of ideas kind of going everywhere. I was like, ‘OK, I get it,’ ” says McNaughton. “She’s mega, super, immensely creative. And she’s colorful, she’s versatile, and you can’t really pinpoint one aesthetic and stick it to her. She’s very much in her own skin, super authentic and comfortable. And I can relate to that.”

Linked Up hoops in 14k gold–plated sterling silver with CZ, $115

“She’s a hoop girl, something everyone knows I love too, and she’s very into bangles, and I love bracelets and bangles. So we had a lot of similarities in the jewelry that we’re drawn to. And so I would say that we’re connected in the fact that we’re both creatives in the sense that we want to be authentic.”

Music to My Ears hoops in 14k gold–plated sterling silver, $165

“I love the intersection between art and nature, and she loves animals and nature. So it wasn’t too far of a reach for me, it felt aligned with the things that I like to create,” says McNaughton. Clockwise from left: Giraffe charm in 14k gold–plated silver with CZ, $55; Crown charm in 14k gold–plated silver, $75; and Music Note charm in 14k gold–plated silver with CZ, $55.

Whack provided rough sketches and images for inspiration to convey the direction she wanted the line to take. “And so with that, I took those pieces that she wanted to see in the collection and gave them my own spin. We created some really cool, fresh new pieces that spoke to Tierra, but still I was able to come in with my authentic voice and allow that to shine through.”

A few more fun, shiny things from the Tierra Whack collaboration below.

Initial rings, $75 each, and studs, $55, in 14k gold–plated silver

Ear Wings studs in 14k gold-plated silver with CZ, $95

Music Note bracelet in 14k gold–plated silver, $250

Whack nameplate necklace in 10k gold, $750

Top: Rapper and Banter by Piercing Pagoda creative director Tierra Whack wears the Wiggity Whack hoops in 10k gold, $1,275

Follow me on Instagram: @aelliott718

Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine


Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine