For those of you who missed it, one of our favorite designers – Gabriella Kiss – was featured in a recent issue of the New York Times T Magazine. The feature, entitled “A Small World,” focuses on Gabriella’s stunning Hudson Valley studio and showroom. A sampling of images and a link to the feature below:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/small-world/

Egan Day is pleased to introduce a new artist to our talented roster – Jessica Berwind. Jessica’s beautiful rings and earrings, set in luxe 18 and 22k gold, are available exclusively in Philadelphia at Egan Day.

About the artist:

Jessica Berwind has been enraptured by objects, jewelry, and things to adorn the body for her entire life.  “When I was a little girl, I made jewelry out of anything that made my heart go pitter-patter.  I used tin foil, water lilies, cigar bands, random pieces of metal, string…to make every manner of rings, bracelets and necklaces.”

As a teenager Berwind visited the ancient jewelry collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and recalls being deeply affected by the beauty of the metal work. “I loved seeing the marks and imperfections in the gold, and through them felt connected to the artisans and their cultures, as if by time machine.”

When the opportunity arose in high school, she lept at the chance to learn how to work with metals. Berwind was fortunate to study for several years with the late Romelle Pethick at the Baldwin School.  “Ro was an extremely demanding teacher and she insisted on perfection in everything we did.  She influenced a great many people during her tenure there.”

Careful not to refine her work too much, Berwind is very conscious of marks and texture, making certain not to erase all imperfection on the surface of the metal.  “I think it is actually difficult to see things that are extremely shiny- they reflect light away, rather than attracting light to them.”

As for the unique found objects Berwind uses in her work, the artist explains, “I have been collecting objects for decades and I use many of them in my work, including shell fragments, coins, beads, seeds and nuts – anything strong enough to hold its own in a bezel.  I’m rarely attracted to precious stones, as they do not speak to me in the way that unique, asymmetrical objects do.”

“Last summer a young jewelry student described my work as resembling ‘buried treasure.’  I took that as a great compliment. “

Berwind received a BA in Art from the University of Pennsylvania, and has attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Internationale Sommerakademie fur Bildende Kunst in Salzburg, Austria, and the Jewelry Arts Institute in New York. She resides in the Philadelphia area.

How lovely! Yahoo News highlights our holiday window in their roundup of stellar displays from around the city. Read more here:

http://news.yahoo.com/philadelphia-holiday-window-displays-2012-213300130.html

To open the post, click on the post title above. Images by Derek & Lorena of Photosincancun.com

Thanks to Philadelphia Magazine for including Egan Day among its fall fashion picks for 2012! A sumptuous selection of gemstones from Gabriella Kiss and Annette Ferdinandsen were photographed for their September issue. Read the write-up here: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/fall-fashion-picks-2012/6/

Join Egan Day on Thursday, September 6, for a soiree celebrating our fall collections! Click on the header for more details…

Egan Day is thrilled to be participating in Philadelphia’s inaugural Fashion’s Night Out. Save the date for a soiree at the store on Thursday, September 6 from 6-10pm! Exciting details coming soon…

Our very own Kate Egan is featured in Philadelphia Magazine’s “What I Love” column in their August 2012 issue. She shares some of her favorite things, from jewelry to art to music and more. Click on the title above to see the article, or pick up Philly Mag on the newsstand today!

Kimberlin Brown’s stunning coral reef earrings are one of the featured obsessions on InStyle.com this week. They’re not the only ones obsessed with these sparkling beauties…so are we!

See the entire write-up at http://obsessed.instyle.com/obsessed/photos/results.html?No=0&pageAdd=1

To open the post, click on the post title. Photo credit: Julie Melton, Sweetwater Portraits