ADORNED // Vanessa Agard Jones

// Taking a peek into the jewelry collections of interesting women //

Today I'm very honored to share the jewelry collection of Vanessa Agard-Jones.  I met Vanessa at Caffe 817 one early morning.  I saw her wrists stacked with silver bangles and I just had to ask about them.  We discovered a mutual love for jewelry, storytelling, and the connection that can form between women through folk traditions (we are both quilters).  

Vanessa is a professor at Yale in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.  Her expertise is in sexuality studies in the African diaspora.  She has been working diligently for the last few years on a research project based in Martinique that is exploring queer identities and sexuality in a place that has been impacted by hormone-altering pesticides.  Needless to say, she is incredible and fascinating to talk to.  

We poured tea and chatted at her dining room table with her sweet dog.  Here are some outtakes from our afternoon together-- enjoy her collection and stories.   

1//  This is the one I don't have the story for but is the most precious.  This coin is a piece that my Grandmother, and my Mother, and my Aunt all wore.  Growing up I always remember seeing all three of these women, the women on my mother's side, wearing these long chains with these coins dangling from them.

My Aunt got very sick in the early 80's with a brain condition call Meningioma, and ended up declining over the course of a decade.  My Grandmother had died right before her, and so my mother inherited all three of the coins.  For a time she wore all three, her mother's, her sister's and her own.

She gave me my grandmother's at a certain point, I think when she felt I had reached adulthood in her mind.  I wear it quite often and it really does remind me of the kind of women who I grew up idealizing and loving, and who really gave me a very loving and beautiful childhood.  Most of my jewelry is connected to these women.

My aunt and my mom both worked for People magazine, my mom was an editor and reporter and my aunt was a photo editor and photographer. Her husband was an architect for NBC and they were very Upper West Side, never had kids, had a gorgeous apartment on on the water on Riverside Drive, had two matching Yorkies which they fed chicken livers from Zabar's.  They had a very different life than what my mom and dad had, who had kids and had to figure how to make ends meet, and my aunt and uncle were fabulous, running around being artists.

2// This was my Aunt's and it shows her sense of humor.  It was her pinky ring and one side reads LOVE and the other side reads FUCK.  It was so my aunt, she was brazen and sort of crass and so I love wearing her ring.  You can either be sweet and gentle, or you can be, you know... I usually wear it with the fuck side up.  It's very much her sense of humor.  She was the smoking, cursing, drinking, fabulous sort of auntie.

3// The other side of her is in her other pinky ring, with these classic initials, and I think of it as representing her very classy and sophisticated side.  Her first name was Betsy, although she really didn't like her name, especially when people called her Betsy Ann.  I called her Tante, which is strange because there is no French connection in our family.  It wasn't until I was in 3rd grade that I discovered in class that "tante" was the word for aunt in French, and it was so like her to not want to be called auntie but instead, 'call me Tante'.  Just fabulous.

4// These I wear a lot less often but I keep them in my jewelry case even when I don't wear them.  They belonged to my grandmother and she wore them, and this is her.

And a picture of me in the other one.



KE:  This is you?  Oh my, so cute!  I love lockets, they are such great little storytelling devices.  I've been noticing through interviewing how much jewelry connects women to the other women women in their lives.

V: Absolutely, if you have nothing else to pass down, most women have a piece of treasured jewelry.

KE:  And it doesn't have to be very expensive, it can just be the piece that she always wore.

V: Yes, it's so true.

5// The bangles are the things that are really important because I wear these every single day of my life.  I don't know the true history of West Indian bangles but I can give you the version that I think I know, and then there might be some more clear history out there somewhere.

Most little West Indian American girls know each other by their bangles.  The history, some say, can be traced to a melding of African and Indian populations in the Caribbean.  One story of their origin is that they are worn to remind people of shackles, except they are worn on one arm instead of two so the shackles never join at the wrist, but give you the sound of what it was like as people tried to navigate their lives while chained.  Some say the origin of the bangles is in the transit of slaves, and was one of the things given as payment for selling people to slave-traders.  So there is this sort of correlation between the kind of wealth that you would need to buy your own self.

When I was a baby I had a tiny little pair of baby bangles, I still have them in a box.  Typically what happens is women wear two pairs of bangles of the same design, and men wear single bangles. These ones were my father's mother's, who I never met, and again there is that connection between generations of women.

The others were given to me at various points by my parents. I think the cowrie shell was from my graduation from college.

This heavy one, it came to me when I taught my first class as a college professor for an adult education course in New York.  I had a student from Barbados, Margaret was her name, and when the class was over she gave this one to me.  And she wrote me this beautiful card about how proud she was to have a young Bajan teacher.

All but the one from Margaret where given to me as pairs, but I've lost many of them which is the awful reality of it.  It's actually been with the advent of all the airport screening that I started losing them because it's the only time I ever take them off.  Even though they don't necessarily set the alarm off, they see them on me and make me go back and take them off which is a bit of a heartbreak.

6// Erica, my close friend, gave me this.  She gave me one and she has one so it's like our updated friendship bracelet.  We'd had a conversation one day about feeling like, somewhat socially awkward and not being totally at ease out in the world, and we were just chatting and quilting and drinking wine and somehow came up with this silly idea that everyone in the world who is socially awkward should have to wear a green thread around their wrist to help them identify each other.  A couple months later she came to my house and gave me this.  It was really, really sweet and this is our grown up version of a friendship bracelet.

Thank you Vanessa for opening up your jewelry box and letting us take a peek at your collection.  

If you have a jewelry collection you would like to share on LOVE + METAL, please email me: kateellen@crownnine.com.

L O V E + M E T A L

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Adorned with Noemi

I sat down with my cousin, Noemi, to chat about her jewelry collection for this edition of Adorned, my blog series that features interesting women telling the stories behind the most important and best loved pieces in their jewelry box.

Noe (that's what we call her) is super energetic with a dry and brash wit, and she came correct with some awesome stories about her collection.  In fact, we all had a good laugh at how everyone in the room was captivated while she talked about each piece, my family and I getting to hear some stories for the first time ever.

The point of this series is not to highlight who has the most beautiful or precious collection of jewelry, it is about connecting to one another through stories, the jewelry acting as a powerful talisman and tool, because hey, we all know that a ring from a Crackerjack box can be just as special to us as a diamond ring, the object holds far more than dollars and cents.  It holds who we were, who we are, and who we love.

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1// This is a bracelet I got when I was visiting my family in Mexico, so for me it's like carrying them with me.

2 // I don't remember when they came from, I just like to throw them on when I'm looking for something happy, and light--they're flowers, they make me feel good.





3 // These are Mexico too, I got them when I think I was about 15 on a trip to see my family.  They're gold, I wore them back home and wore them for a very long time.


4 // These silver bracelets are from my Papi, who brought them back from Mexico.  He meant to get me a set of seven, he purchased a really expensive set and forgot them on a bus.  When he realized he went back and got these for me.


5// This is a necklace that was my Mother's that she used to wear back when she was into this sort of thing as a young girl. {laughter}  I wore it in high school and I loved it, it reminded me that it was cool to be out there, unconventional, and to do my own thing.


6 // These were something that you gave to me for working at one of your very first events when you first got started.  I love them, the style, I love the way they feel as they hang.


7 // I've had those since I was five or six, and I always wore them.  I got my ears pierced, my Mom said, when I was about six weeks old so I've always worn earrings.  When I was really little I would lose my gold hoops all the time, they would just fall out, but this pair I managed not to lose then, and I've held onto them all this time.


8 // The N is from my Mother from a trip in Hawaii, she loves going there and the Hawaiian style gold jewelry.  It was a beautiful gift.  And the cross is from Grandma Ellen for my high school graduation when I was 17.  She bought the cross and my Mom bought the chain so it was a gift from them both.


8 // That ring was something I got when I turned, I want to say 14, but maybe it was when I was even younger, I can't quite remember.  But the thing about this ring is that it's a sapphire which is the birthstone for September, and my parents really wanted to give me something a gift that was sort of a representation of a coming of age, so maybe I was 12, you know puberty or around that time.  And what is really significant about this ring is that I was preparing to go on a trip and the first and only time I stole something from a store there was a story about this ring.  I loved this ring and wore it everywhere, I swam with it, washed my hair with it, I went skiing with it, I did everything with this.  So I remember my friend Jennifer, who was a bit of a bad influence, I was with her while she had this plan of going behind the counter and getting a bag and filling it up at Macy's. So she's asking me what I think of this item or that item, and I knew, I just knew it felt wrong.  Of course we go to leave and get totally busted and pulled into a room, her mom gets called, my mom get's called.  And you know, I had no reason to steal, I was there with money my mom had given me so that I could get something for a trip we were going on to visit my Dad's family, she had dropped me off at Macy's specifically to get what I needed for this special trip.  So that day that I got caught I went to bed, and when I woke up the next morning I couldn't find my ring.  It had come off my finger.  Again, I wore this every single day and never took it off, so to me it really felt like a message, of somebody saying that what I had done was wrong.  I felt such a huge amount of guilt afterwards, and I panicked, I cried, I think I even prayed, I was so torn up that I had lost this very special gift that my parents had given me.  I mean, it was so special, my parents had saved up money and bought me my first big girl piece of jewelry and give me that responsibility, and I was horrified to think I could lose it and let them down.I found it the next day, but it was so weird that it would ever come off that I still feel like it was some sort of a message, and I chose to see it as a sign.

9// Simple studs that I love to wear everyday, they're just easy and so I wear them often.

10 // These pearls my mom gave to me when I was 21, and I wore them everyday for a long time.

11 // This bracelet is from Austria, my brother hosted an exchange student when he was in high school and he brought it back for me for my birthday, which I celebrated that year by going skydiving and he came with us, and I wore it when I jumped out the plane.  It kind of makes me feel like Wonder Woman.

12 // This is my engagement ring, you made it and Ricky helped design it.  And that's the ring I'm going to wear for the rest of my life.


13 // Black pearls that Ricky's mom Katie gave to me.  She took this trip and ended up getting evacuated do to a flood and tsunami, she had to stay at a school-shelter on her vacation.  Worst trip to Hawaii ever.  Ricky and I had talked to her about how majestic Hawaii is and told her 'oh you have to go, you have to see this paradise,' and she ended up getting evacuated!  But even through all that she still took the time to find me something special, she knew that I love pearls and I love black, so there you go.

14 // First piece of big girl jewelry I ever bought myself.  I bought it because I just loved it, the movement and how interesting it was and I just felt incredible wearing it.  I don't usually tend to buy rings for myself, in fact I only have three.  But I just put it on and it felt like me.

15 // Oh, you like my Giants earrings, dude?!  {laughter} I've had these since we were kids, and I wore them to every single Giants game I've ever been to, all the way back to Candlestick.

Noe's living room and painting by her fiance, Ricky Watts.  

Me and Noe as little girls

Thank you for reading, I'll be bringing you more interesting women from my life and beyond.  To get email reminders when a new woman is featured, become an Adorned Insider.

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Adorned with Natalie

We’re on our second installment of Adorned, my blog feature in which I will be sporadically invading the homes, jewelry boxes, and collections of the women most dear to me.

I ask each woman to reflect on her jewelry collection and pull out 5-10 of her most personal pieces, usually a combination of the most meaningful, the most beloved, and the most often worn.  Through this storytelling, I hope to share with you what I already know to be true: that at its best, these small little objects we collect tell the sacred stories of who we are.  To get email reminders when a new women is featured, become an Adorned Insider.

Today I’m sharing you the collection of my younger cousin, Natalie Corsini.  I come from a big family with lots of cousins who are like sisters and brothers to me. Here are her picks from our interview together, enjoy.

1// My hoops are my staple, my everyday don’t-really-have-to-think-about-it earring.  I love to wear them to work.

2// The Love bracelet is a gift my best friend Fairie gave to me, I don’t wear it as often but it’s very special to me.

3// The Saints Bracelet is something that I first got from my Aunt but then I lost it.  I was really sad, so a friend found another one for me to replace it.  It reminds me of my Grandma Ellen.

4// The Birch Earrings are the first thing that you gave to me when you started your jewelry business so they’re very special too.

5// The sparkly ones I wear when going out and I get a ton of compliments on them because they must catch people’s eyes.  They are also really light and comfortable which I love.

6// The studs I trade off—I usually wear them during the daytime.  They match most things and I’m obsessed with them.  I think I must like this texture a lot!

7// The rings I don’t take off, the one on my ring finger I got when I was 16 or 17.  I remember distinctly thinking to myself, “I’ve never owned a ring before, I’m gonna go buy a ring.”  I tried it on and liked it, so I haven’t taken it off since.  The Constellation rings were a present when I graduated from Cal.

ME: You know that your Dad commissioned me to make those for you?  That design is in my collection now but I designed it with you in mind.

N: Oh! They’ve lived on me since the day I got them.

ME: I think it’s so cute that you decided you wanted to go buy yourself a ring when you were a teenager.

N: I know, because everyone had rings in high school, especially my best friend who had 3 or 4 rings.  I was not really into jewelry but a ring felt important to have.  I didn’t even get my ears pierced until high school, so I was a little late on all of it.  I discovered earrings late, but then I got known for them.  I developed a collection and then all my girlfriends would want to borrow them in college, and my roommates would steal them for whatever outfit they were wearing.  My style has changed some over the years, but definitely I still never go anywhere without earrings.

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Kate Ellen

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Adorned: The Premier

It’s been my heartfelt belief that jewelry is more than just accessory, that at its best it acts as a sacred talisman for our most personal stories, relationships, life triumphs and losses.  I’ve been a jeweler for over five years by profession, and over that time I’ve learned so much about other people by simply asking them to tell me about what they already own.  I feel like I get this incredible permission to see a woman more wholly through her jewelry, and now I really want to formalize this asking with a new series called Adorned.

In <strong>Adorned</strong> I will be sporadically invading the homes, jewelry boxes, and collections of the women most dear to me—both woman who I am very intimate with, and those who I look up to and who inspire me.

I ask each woman to reflect on her jewelry collection and pull out 5-10 of her most personal pieces, usually a combination of the most meaningful, the most beloved, and the most often worn.

To start us off, I thought I would share with you my collection.  You may be surprised to find that even though I am a jeweler, I actually have a very small collection of jewelry that I actually own.  Here are my Adorned picks, from my heart to yours.

1 // The first ring I ever made, circa 2005.  I tried selling this ring many times, and people love it and try it on but I think the universe knows it belongs to me.  I finally stopped trying to sell it and instead wear it as a reminder of the great leap I took to become a jewelry artist.

2 // High school graduation gift from my Auntie Kathy.  It reminds me of a piece that my Mom has worn every single day since I can remember.

3 // My Mom’s earrings.  I remember her wearing these all the time when I was young, a hold over from her more bohemian style.  They were a gift from my mom's best friend and my namesake, Catherine Lemon, who was there with my mother on the day I was born.  I feel like a child when I see them.  

4 // <a href="http://www.sarahswell.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Swell</a> Ridgeback Ring and a simple green diamond ring.  Sarah is one of the most dear people to me, a total industry comrade and inspiration.  We traded a few pieces and this is my first diamond.

5 // Simple Turquoise Studs I picked up in Joshua Tree.  I use a lot of old metalsmithing techniques that the Navajo mastered, it feels good to wear something in that style.

6 // Birch Earrings.  These are my everyday go-to earrings.  They look good with everything and I love the sound they make in my ear.  I named these Birch because when I made them I was going through a really difficult transition, and I needed to shed some old ways in order to move on and let go.  The imagery of the birch shedding it’s bark in order to grow served as the inspiration for the texture.

7 // Tiffany’s Chain Bracelet.  My Mom gave this to me on my 18th birthday, it is my first real ‘grown-up’ piece of jewelry.  The rear is inscribed ‘Katie’, a name I dropped at 19, I love the reminder of where I’ve been.

8 // Bench Charms.  This is a one of a kind piece that I’ve build over the years filled with little scraps and things I loved from experimenting at the bench.  The ‘K’s come from my Grandma Ellen who gave them to me when I was a little girl.  I’ve always loved charm necklaces especially charms that originate from something authentic.

9 // <a href="http://aikojewelry.com" target="_blank">Aiko Designs</a>.  A cute little everyday piece made by another dear colleague Christine Aiko Beck.  She and Sarah helped me open and run my boutique, <a href="http://www.crown-nine.com" target="_blank">Crown Nine</a> in my first year.  I love Christine’s eye and her meticulous craftsmanship.

10 // Little Rock.  This is probably my most special, most worn, most loved piece out of all of them.  The gold is from a necklace my Grandma Ellen gave to me as a girl that no longer fit.  I melted it down and put it on this ring and so she is with me in many ways.

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