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Ariel Gordon Celebrates a Decade with a Vintage Capsule
The L.A. designer known for her contemporary classics is selling her personal hoard of antique, vintage and estate jewelry in honor of her brand’s 10-year anniversary.
The jewelry pictured here is from one of Ariel Gordon Jewelry’s six mini-collections sold on occasion of the brand’s 10-year anniversary. Called “Lucy in the Sky,” it incorporates celestial elements.
Los Angeles—A few years ago, jewelry designer Ariel Gordon Maffei began stocking up on antique and vintage fine jewelry pieces that caught her eye, without any particular agenda.
She had always gravitated toward vintage pieces—styles like classic signet rings are a mainstay in her eponymous brand, Ariel Gordon Jewelry—but she’d never really shopped the market in earnest before.
“I always loved [vintage jewelry] for myself but didn’t know how I’d incorporate that into my contemporary line,” she explained.
Gordon Maffei’s inexplicable inspiration to shop didn’t follow any particular agenda.
“[My collection] wasn’t across any specific era or with any specific theme,” she said. “I just bought what I felt like I would want to wear.”
This year, as Ariel Gordon Jewelry turned 10, Gordon Maffei struggled to come up with a way to commemorate the anniversary.
She could reissue bestsellers from over the years, but plenty of brands did that.
Then she thought of her vintage and antique jewelry collection, and “Heritage by Ariel Gordon” was born.
“I looked down, and I had over 230 pieces of jewelry just sitting there. I thought, ‘This is going to be a moment.’”
The designer curated the capsule collection by theme, resulting in six mini-collections, like “Lucy in the Sky,” comprising jewels inspired by celestial elements.
The first mini-collection hit ArielGordonJewelry.com at the end of September, and they’ll continue to drop through March 18.
This past Wednesday, Oct. 30, marked the debut of the third mini-collection, “Golden Girls,” a mix of gold chains and chunky gold rings. (Those who are fans of Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia will be excited to know there is also an “On the Lanai” collection coming.)
Gordon Maffei views her 10th anniversary project as an ode to the jewelry industry that’s helped remind her of the timelessness of her craft.
“It felt like a really sweet, full-circle moment for me as I’m standing at my 10-year anniversary to look back at the heritage of the industry that I’ve been a part of, and see that the reason why people would wear jewelry in the Victorian era is pretty similar to the reasons why people wear my jewelry specifically,” she said. “It’s personal. It’s in honor of a birth, or a death, or a wedding, and I
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incorporate hand-engraved elements crafted in the same manner that things were engraved in antique jewelry.
“It’s a fantasy of mine that 100 years from now, someone will discover one of my pieces, and it would have the same special meaning to them, with the stories and memories it’s collected over the years.”
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