Faye Kim Designs Tourmaline Ring

Since Faye Kim first took up her goldsmith tools, she’s amassed a shelf full of awards, established a reputation for producing highly wearable, heirloom-quality jewels and acquired a devoted following of collectors, many of whom have purchased her work from the beginning. 

As an undergrad, Kim dutifully pursued an economics degree to meet the expectations of her immigrant parents, and she worked for her father’s accounting office for a time. But she quickly found herself “restless,” she says, yearning to do something more creative.

Kim’s mother, having always supported her daughter’s creativity, encouraged her to attend the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York as a way to address her impulse for change. 

As a newly minted graduate, Kim hopscotched from a job at a jewelry wholesaler to become a pearl buyer for Tiffany & Co. She eventually became a jewelry buyer at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she was exposed to the work of modern masters like Angela Cummings and Barry Kielselstein-Cord and to antique treasures from Kentshire. 

Kim enrolled in classes as a hobby. The process enthralled her. “I loved being at the bench. I could sit there for hours on end,” she says. “I fell in love with the granulation process and making everything by hand.” 

Kim immediately gravitated to working with 18-karat gold, especially in an alloy with a subtle green cast. When she decided to return to work, in 2003, she opened an eponymous boutique in downtown Westport, Connecticut, a bedroom community outside New York City, and it became her livelihood. 

Kim established her stylistic signatures early on. Single pieces are weighty enough to hold their own but not too big to stack with others for a more imposing look, modern silhouettes are combined with old-world techniques like granulation and bezel setting, and virtually everything bearing her name is made entirely by artisans in her studio. 

Sizable dome rings are much loved. And a stack composed of a gemstone ring flanked by gold bands is another mainstay for Kim’s true believers. Earrings dangling perfectly proportioned baroque-pearl or diamond drops that softly sway from hinged mountings are bestsellers.

Today, Kim is setting the groundwork for focusing on designs that challenge and excite her.

Find Faye Kim jewelry on 1stDibs.

Contemporary jewelry is inextricably linked with the moment in which it is created, frequently reflecting current social, cultural and political issues such as environmental consciousness, identity and sustainability. It’s informed by fashion trends, from the chokers of the 1990s to the large chain necklaces of the early 2000s.

Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of adornment. Lockets made of silver or gold have been treasured gifts for hundreds of years, for example, and charm bracelets, which have existed since prehistoric times, didn’t become especially popular until the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. For many centuries, fine jewelry was used primarily to express wealth or status through lavish materials. Then, in the 1960s, a concept known as the “critique of preciousness” emerged, with jewelers creating pieces that did not get their value from gemstones or precious metals. Instead, it was the jeweler’s artistic vision that was prized and elevated.

This shift still informs Contemporary jewelry being made by artists today. Whether they are using cheap, found materials and working with provocative geometric shapes or seeking out the rarest stones, they are imbuing their work with meaning through their skills, techniques and ideas. Innovative designers such as Elsa Peretti, who popularized sculptural sterling-silver jewelry for Tiffany & Co., and David Yurman, who twisted metal into the simple yet striking Cable bracelet, have also influenced the direction of Contemporary jewelry’s forms and aesthetics.

Meanwhile, technological advancements like metal alloys and laser engraving have led to new possibilities in jewelry design. Now, edgy makers and brands as well as minimalist designers are pushing Contemporary jewelry forward into the 21st century.

Find a collection of Contemporary rings, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

Antique and vintage rings have long held a special place in the hearts of fine jewelry lovers all over the world.

No matter their origin or specific characteristics, rings are timeless, versatile accessories. They’ve carried deep meaning since at least the Middle Ages, when diamond rings symbolized strength and other kinds of rings were worn to signify romantic feelings or to denote an affiliation with a religious order. Rings have also forever been emblematic of eternity.

Over time, rings have frequently taken the form of serpents, which have long been associated with eternal life, health and renewal. Italian luxury jewelry house Bulgari has become famous for its widely loved Serpenti motif, for example, and its Serpenti ring, like the other accessories in the collection, began as an homage to jewelry of the Roman and Hellenistic eras. The serpent is now a popular motif in fine jewelry. Jewelry devotees have long pined for rings adorned with reptiles, thanks to antique Victorian rings — well, specifically, Queen Victoria’s illustrious engagement ring, which took the form of a gold snake set with rubies, diamonds and an emerald (her birthstone). Designs for Victorian-era engagement rings often featured repoussé work and chasing, in which patterns are hammered into the metal.

Engagement rings, which are reliably intimidating to shop for, are still widely recognized as symbols of love and commitment. On 1stDibs, a range of buying guides can be found for those in the market for antique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings or Art Deco engagement rings. 

The most collectible antique engagement rings and vintage engagement rings are those from the Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco eras. Named for the monarchies of the four King Georges, who in succession ruled England starting in 1714 (plus King William’s reign), antique Georgian rings, be they engagement rings or otherwise, are also coveted by collectors. Pearls, along with colored gemstones like garnets, rubies and sapphires, were widely used in Georgian jewelry. The late-1700s paste jewelry was a predecessor to what we now call fashion or costume jewelry. 

The Art Nouveau movement (1880–1910) brought with it rings inspired by the natural world. Antique Art Nouveau rings might feature depictions of winged insects and fauna as well as women, who were simultaneously eroticized and romanticized, frequently with long flowing hair. Art Deco jewelry, on the other hand, which originated during the 1920s and ’30s, is by and large “white jewelry.” White metals, primarily platinum, were favored over yellow gold in the design of antique Art Deco rings and other accessories as well as geometric motifs, with women drawn to the era’s dazzling cocktail rings in particular.

Whether you’re hunting down a chunky classic for a Prohibition-themed cocktail party or seeking a clean contemporary design to complement your casual ensemble, find an exquisite collection of antique, new and vintage rings on 1stDibs.