to a shiny happy new year

As 2016 fast approaches, we’re taking time to reflect on what a phenomenal year it’s been for our little labor of “jewel” love. We’re beyond grateful to have such loyal customers and friends who continue to grow with us. Here’s a look back at some of our favorite shots of 2015...

Thank you and happy new year! 

sheri's personal collection on gem gossip

We're humbled to be featured on one of our favorite jewel-centric blogs, Gem Gossip. Their recent series,  Jewelry Collection Stories, provides fascinating insights into some of the most unique, not to mention, pin-worthy personal jewelry collections. Read on for an intimate look into what moves Sheri to layer on one more bangle, ring or locket. 

Photography by Rebecca Goldschmidt

                                                    

Welcome Winter Solstice

Antique Georgian Gilt "Pinchbeck" and Enamel Floral Earrings, Victorian Gold Wedding Bracelets, Victorian Gutta Percha and Gold Bracelet

Antique Carnelian Signet Ring, Variance Objects Moldavite Large Ring

Photography Kara Brodgesell, Makeup Shawn Burke,  Model Frances Tomei

Special Holiday Hours

Bells are ringing...

Sneak Peek: Antique Jewelry Trunk Show

We are culling three centuries of coveted and collectable pieces for an antique trunk show Saturday, December 5th.

Celebrate the holidays and join us for a day of gorgeous treasures and storied gems. 

Victorian 14k pear shaped foiled moss agate & rose-cut diamond ring.

Victorian 14k granulated drops, faux tortoise urn earrings, Victorian 14k foiled rose-cut leaf earrings, Early Victorian 14-18k natural citrine earrings, Early Victorian 12k rose gold articulated drops. 

Victorian 15-18k navy enamel, natural pearls and Euro-cut diamond bangle. Late Georgian foiled natural topaz surrounded by pearls set in 14k rose gold, Georgian portrait miniature surrounded by seed pearls set in 14k rose gold. Navette red and white enamel ring with a diamond star and locket back.

Georgian 15-18k hand engraved foiled garnet ring, Victorian 14k Persian turquoise pave oval ring, Victorian navy enamel dome ring with foiled diamond star. Georgian 14k foiled garnet, turquoise and  natural pearl ring. Georgian blue enamel and silver set silver rose-cut diamonds.

Still Photography Shannon Sinclair

SAVE THE DATE: Antique Trunk Show

Gabriella Kiss

We are excited to announce the arrival of Gabriella Kiss's stunningly beautiful jewelry to Metier. Inspired by flora and fauna, and fascinated by nature's life cycles, Gabriella meticulously crafts treasures in fine metals featuring precious and semi-precious stones often in combination with found natural materials. These elements are fashioned into tiny green gold bug studs, delicate horn butterfly wing earrings, trailing vine necklaces and luminescent gem rings. Beyond just adornment, these timeless pieces speak deeply personal meanings to the wearer.

Gabriella Kiss Rings, Variance Objects Herkimer Earrings

Gabriella Kiss Fly Earrings

Gabriella Kiss Earrings. 18k Black Rutilated Quartz, 14k Green Gold Large Horn Butterflies, 18k Oval Ceylon Moonstone Earrings,  Oxidized Bronze Bird Heads with Black Pearls. 

Gabriella Kiss Rings, Antique Mourning Ring on Index Finger

Gabriella Kiss 18k Small Agate Pendant Necklace & 18k Large Crystal Lens Pendant Necklace

Gabriella Kiss Rings. (top) Large 18k Hand Ring Inscribed with "Amicitia", 18k Mens Band Ring Inscribed with "Omnia Vincit Amor", (bottom) 18k Teardrop Pink Diamond Slab Ring, 18k Band Ring Inscribed with "Omnia Vincit Amor", 18k Mauve Emerald Cut Sapphire Ring.

See the lovely film below for an insight into Gabriella Kiss' imaginative and finely tuned world.        


Photography Kara  Brodgsell, Still Photography Shannon Sinclair, Makeup Shawn Burke,  Model Frances Tomei 

metier's freda girl(s) moment

Recently we were honored to be a part of the inspiring Freda Girl series started by the talented San Francisco-based footwear design duo, Megan Papay and Cristina Palomo-Nelson, of Freda Salvador. Longtime fans of their shoes - think insanely well-made, walkable flats and heels with major cool-girl appeal - we were thrilled to wear our current favorites for some fun photos in our hood.

Click through to read our interview and learn more about our creative process. And be sure to get yourself online or into the Freda store to see what these lovely ladies are up to. Thanks Freda!

Freda Salvador Flagship Store

This Saturday: Variance Objects Trunk Show

Join us this Saturday, September 26 from 12-6pm for a trunk show with Variance Objects.
Meet the designer, Nicole Rimedio, and explore the latest of her hand-cut and finely crafted jewelry pieces. A small selection of loose stones will also be available at the show for clients to work together with Nicole to create custom rings.
A 15% discount will be offered in-store at the event. We hope to see you there! 

Variance Objects exposes natural beauty and form with each hand-cut and hand-set stone. Designer, Nicole Rimedio, chooses stones that are often overlooked in the world of fine jewelry —

rusty carnelians, rare goshenite, and rutilated quartzes -- and elevates them, in their natural state, 

to a place of rough elegance. To read more about Variance Objects see our Q&A interview with Nicole in our next blogpost below. 

Q&A with Variance Objects Designer, Nicole Remedio

A trained landscape architect and self-taught jeweler, Nicole Remedio is exactly the kind of artist we enjoy working with — disciplined, driven but grounded. Her work challenges the typical aesthetics of fine jewelry by employing hand-cut stones, mixing metals, and "anti-polish" attitude that we love. Here she talks about her art and what inspires her: 

Where are you from? Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Shaker Heights Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.  My parents still live in the house I grew up in.  It's a beautiful suburb, but still a suburb.  

We were automatically drawn to the rawness of Variance Objects pieces. Why do you prefer to use uncut stones and materials as opposed to more polished, processed ones?

Actually, all of our stones are cut and polished in our studio, but we cut them in a way that leaves their rough, natural character intact, so they appear to be uncut.  I love seeing the natural formations of stones.  In a way I find their natural state more evocative than the spectacular flawless faceted form they usually take in fine jewelry.  By approaching a gem with a different set of priorities it frees us up to rough beauty instead of human mastery.

You were trained in architecture, specifically landscape architecture— how does that play into your work, be it the designs, the process, or just your point of view?

There are ways that placing a stone on a band is like siting a building on a hillside; there's a relational balance between them that can be beautiful.  Also, I learned about rigorous process and how to design in grad school. Both of those things were helpful in the early stages of Variance and continue to benefit me as I Variance evolves, but most of all Architecture taught me what I didn't want my life to look like.  I learned that I just wasn't good at working in an office, and working on projects that I couldn't wrap my hands around.  I realized that I needed to take a sharp left turn and be an artist.

If you had to switch lives with another designer or artist, who would you choose?

Jimi Hendrix.  It seems like he was on another plane and I think I'd like to experience what it was like for him as an artist.  

What’s the best part of being in a creative/business relationship with your partner, Scott?

It allows me to be fully absorbed, but really we both are.  Variance is a project between us as much as it is my artistic pursuit.  To have a set of eyes that can look at the work with the same intimacy and investment as I have, but totally fresh and unbiased (usually) is invaluable.  Also there is a process between me completing a piece and Scott photographing the piece that is invaluable. I am able to see things in the piece through his photography that I didn't see with my eyes.  In a way it really speeds up and simplifies my internal design process.  Having a business takes so much determination, focus, and time, so it is really nice that we can be in it together.  We work a lot, but it doesn't (usually) feel like work, just art and life.

Describe your ultimate day off.

Hmmm.  These don't come very often, so I'll make it extra ultimate. Scott and I start off with good pot of Puerh tea, then a long walk either through the city or a good walking beach.  Then lunch, maybe Gracias Madre if we're in SF.  Then perhaps the Alameda flea market is happening magically in the afternoon for my day off, so we go there, find some killer scores, like a pair of Art Nouveau plique-à-jour day/night earrings and a couple of vintage Hermes bags.  Then we run into some friends and we all go to dinner somewhere fun.  Finally, we drive home at sunset on Hwy 1.  At home we immerse ourselves in multiple episodes of some great Netflix series.

What are you reading right now? What songs are playing in the studio while you’re working?

We listen to audio books in the studio and we just finished In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen, and before that was The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.  When we play music, it is usually a Pandora station of either Bob Marley or Krishna Das.

Favorite snacks, type of weather, philosopher, place to go to think?

Cashew cheese and spicy pumpkin seeds on a seaweed rice cake.  Or a dark Ecuadorian mocha from Mutari chocolate.  

What’s your vision of Variance Objects for the next few years?
Refinement in both process and product.  As we grow we are constantly shown ways we can improve, so our goal is to always see those ways and take those opportunities.

Brimfield Travel Diary

We're back from our trip to Brimfield, Massachusetts, the mother of all flea markets and America's largest antique show. We got up with the roosters each day to start our hunt for silver bangles, gutta percha, niello, coral, old diamonds and Victorian charms and lockets. We were enamored by one dealer's miniature book collection and another's black & white feather prints (coming soon).

Any trip out East requires a sampling of local treats: we went straight from the Boston airport for classic lobster rolls at Row 34; munched Faddy's apple cider donuts, ate giant chocolate chip cookies and drank fresh squeezed lime rickeys. A classic bacon-and-eggs breakfast fueled our days of treasure-hunting.

Everyone we encountered, from fellow Instagrammers to jewelry dealers shared stories, finds, and tips on navigating the market. We stayed in a hand-built cabin in the woods, Laurel Ridge Bed & Breakfast and returned with our bags full of one-of-a-kind gems and antiques.

 If you have questions please inquire at info@metiersf.com or stop by the shop.

The Now Mood

Variance Objects Lapis Earrings, Gillian Conroy 14k and Bone Drops, Gillian Conroy Silver and Gold Thorn Drops, Gillian Conroy Emerald Earrings, Gillian Conroy Long Drops,  Rebecca Overmann Gold Studded Black Drops, Gillian Conroy 18k Thorn & Rose Cut Grey Diamond Earrings, Found Landscape Painting as Backdrop

Ryan Roche Alabaster Top Hat, Victorian Calibre Turquoise and Rosecut Diamond Arrow Pin 

(Index Finger) Deco Zircon and White Gold Ring, Victorian 14k Rose Gold and Triple Opal Ring, Late Georgian 14k Flat Cut Diamond Ring, B.C.E. Jewelry 14k Champagne Diamond Ring,  (Middle Finger) 1920's Rose Gold Set With Rosecut Diamonds, 18k Victorian Opal and Diamond Ring, Gillian Conroy 18k Diamond Band, B.C.E. Jewelry 14k Turquoise and White Diamond Ring, (Ring Finger) Victorian Rose Gold Prasiolite Ring, Rebecca Overmann Tourmaline Ring, Gillian Conroy White Diamond Pear Shape Ring, Victorian 12k Opal, Sapphire & Rose Cut Diamond Ring (Pinky Finger) Victorian 18k Gold Sapphire and Diamond Ring, B.C.E. Jewelry 14k Boulder Opal Ring, Victorian Gold and Opal Baby Ring.

Heather Day Paintings coming soon to Metier!

Gillian Conroy 18k Gold and Emerald Rings

All items available online are linked in the description. If you have questions please inquire at info@metiersf.com or stop by the shop.