Independents

Jewelry Designer Pinar Oner Dies

IndependentsApr 20, 2016

Jewelry Designer Pinar Oner Dies

The Turkish designer, whose beautiful yellow gold and enamel designs paid homage to the architecture and culture of her homeland, died April 14 after a long battle with illness.

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This picture provided by Pat Syvrud shows Pinar Öner at work at her bench. The architecture and culture of Öner’s home country, Turkey, inspired many of her designs.

New York--Pinar Öner, whose beautiful yellow gold and enamel designs paid homage to the architecture and culture of her homeland, died peacefully at her home in Turkey on April 14 after a long battle with illness.

A native of Ankara, Turkey, Öner’s fascination with fine jewelry craftsmanship and design began when she was a young girl.

She studied graphic arts at university and took a course at the Parsons New School for Design in New York, which opened her eyes to the concept of incorporating the world around her into her jewelry designs.


The diamond ring that won Öner recognition in the Couture Design Awards in 2013, the first year she exhibited at the show
Öner made her U.S. trade show debut in 2013 at Couture, exhibiting in the Next Wave ballroom for emerging designers. She was named second runner-up in the Bridal category of the Couture Design Awards that same year. 

She returned to Couture again in 2014 and was one of the designers who created pieces for the Csarite Designer Collection launched in 2014. (Csarite is the brand name given to the color-change diaspore mined in Turkey’s Anatolian mountains.)

Öner also was the subject of a September 2014 Gold Spotlight on NationalJeweler.com, showcasing her then-new Hagia Sophia collection, a line inspired by the mosque-turned-monument of the same name.

The younger designer’s “fresh, yet iconic, handcrafted jewelry designs reflected the cultural influences of her beloved Turkey,” Pat Syvrud, who helped launched Pinar Öner Design Atelier in the United States, said in a statement. “The luxury jewelry world has lost a true gem indeed.”
Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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