With her playfully bold, nature-inspired pieces, Angela Cummings has left a lasting mark on the world of jewelry design. Full of movement and sensational color, her eye-catching collar necklaces, stud earrings and bracelets continue to be favored by red-carpet celebrities and tastemakers the world over.
Cummings was born in Austria in 1944, during a time when her country was being torn apart by war. At the age of three her family moved to America, where she was raised. Returning to her native country as an adult, Cummings studied art in Perugia, Italy, then went on to study jewelry design in Hanau, West Germany. She graduated with a degree in gemology, goldsmithing and jewelry design from Zeichenakademie in 1967.
Cummings returned to the United States after finishing her studies. She marched into legendary American luxury house Tiffany & Co. in New York City and asked for a job. Under the mentorship of Donald Claflin, a designer who’d previously worked for David Webb, Cummings became a respected in-house designer for the brand. Her named collection, Angela Cummings Exclusively for Tiffany & Co., debuted in 1974.
Cummings created sumptuous 18K gold accessories that were inlaid with coral, opal, mother-of-pearl, jade and lapis lazuli. Not unlike the work of Elsa Peretti, who signed an exclusive contract with Tiffany & Co. in 1974, Cummings’ designs — seashell necklaces, maple leaf pendants — drew on the shapes and forms of the natural world.
As her style continued to develop, Cummings integrated silver, precious gemstones and platinum into her work, creating exquisite juxtapositions by mixing the materials with wood and iron. Her pieces increasingly featured more movement-inspired elements — curling vines, crashing waves and billowing cloud forms — that hearkened to the rhythms of nature.
In 1982, People magazine featured Cummings' jewelry and the publicity launched her into the spotlight. Two years later, she established her own business, Angela Cummings Inc., and began to experiment with abstraction in her work, as well as allowing her surroundings in Japan, where she opened several boutiques, to inspire her adornments.
Cummings retired in 2003, making a brief comeback in 2013 to collaborate with Assael Jewelry, for which she created an exclusive line of cultured pearl jewelry.
Find vintage Angela Cummings earrings, necklaces, brooches and other accessories on 1stDibs.
$363Sale Price|25% Off
Tiffany & Co. 1981 Angela Cummings Aerodynamic Twisted Pen .925 Sterling Silver
By Tiffany & Co., Angela Cummings
Located in Miami, FL
Sculptural twisted pen designed by Angela Cummings. Sculptural pen, created back in the 1981 in New York city at the Tiffany Studios. This fabulous sculpt...
Sterling Silver
$448Sale Price|25% Off
TIFFANY & CO. 1981 Angela Cummings Aerodynamic Twisted Pen In .925 Sterling
By Tiffany & Co., Angela Cummings
Located in Miami, FL
Sculptural twisted pen designed by Angela Cummings. This exceptional sculptural pen was designed in New York City at the Tiffany & Co. studios by renowned jewelry designer Angel...
Sterling Silver, Silver
21° Century Italian Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen
By Arval Argenti Valenza
Located in VALENZA, IT
Biro in argento massiccio, completamente lavorata a mano e incisa con volute barocche. La cura con cui è stata realizzata questa penna biro ne denota l'esperienza e la mano d'artist...
Sterling Silver
21st Century Italian Sterling Silver Fountain Pen
By Arval Argenti Valenza
Located in VALENZA, IT
Fountain pen made of solid silver, completely handcrafted and engraved with baroque volutes. The care with which this fountain pen was made denotes the experience and artistic hand ...
Sterling Silver
$165
H 5 in Dm 0.25 in
Modernist Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen w/ Sculptural Clip signed Tiffany & Co.
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
This Modernist Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen with a sculptural clip, signed by the prestigious Tiffany & Co., is a remarkable blend of minimalistic elegance and functional design...
Sterling Silver
Rare Minimal Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen, Tiffany & Co signed Angela Cummings
By Tiffany & Co., Angela Cummings
Located in New York, NY
A sleek embodiment of refined minimalism, this Modernist Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen, signed by Angela Cummings and dating to circa 1990, is an outstanding example of late 20th-cen...
Sterling Silver
$938Sale Price / set|45% Off
H 0.79 in Dm 7.49 in
English Sterling Silver Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Fountain Pen
By Haviland & Co.
Located in Reading, Berkshire
English Sterling Silver Haviland-Nye Hallmarked Fountain Pen With A Schmidt Medium Nib, With A Black Tooled Leather Box. Designed 2002 London Specifically for H.R.H Queen Elizabeth ...
Sterling Silver
Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver Notepad Holder
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
Tiffany & Co. sterling silver notepad holder, with leather back. It measures 5 3/4'' in length by 3 1/2'' in width by 1 1/8'' in height, and bear...
Silver, Sterling Silver
$912Sale Price|20% Off
H 5.52 in W 0.6 in D 0.6 in
Fountain Pen in Sterling Silver fired Enamel Guilloche Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Giorgio Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Fountain pen in 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamel on guilloche. With 14 carats gold nib and ink cartridge. Diameter mm. 10.5 Total length cm. 14. Weight gr. 45. ...
Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold
$5,440Sale Price|20% Off
H 4.63 in Dm 4 in
Large Tiffany Japonesque Applied Sterling Silver Inkwell with Beetle
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
Japonesque sterling silver inkwell. Made by Tiffany & Co. in New York, ca 1882. Drum form with curved shoulder, short neck, and hinged and cork-lined bayonet cover. Leaves and tendri...
Sterling Silver
$250
H 5.44 in W 0.44 in D 0.36 in
Vintage Tiffany & Co. Old Logo Slate Gray Stainless Steel & Gold Ballpoint Pen
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine vintage Tiffany ballpoint pen. By Tiffany & Co. With a slate gray body with gold accents and a stylized gold clip. Marked to the pen'...
Gold, Stainless Steel
Set of 4 Tiffany & Co. Silver Rulers in Original Pouches
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
Set of 4 Tiffany & Co. silver plate metric rulers measuring 7 inches (17 centimeters) long. Comes in an authentic Tiffany & Co. branded aqua-colored felt pouch. Brand new condition. Great unisex gift for any holiday or occasion, birthday, or office. The legendary Tiffany brand was founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany...
Silver Plate
Modernist Twist Opening Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen signed Bergdorf Goodman
By Bergdorf Goodman
Located in New York, NY
This Modernist Sterling Silver Ballpoint Pen, signed by Bergdorf Goodman, embodies the understated refinement and high-caliber craftsmanship that defined American luxury goods in the...
Sterling Silver
$1,800Sale Price|20% Off
H 4.75 in Dm 6 in
Tiffany & Co. Art Nouveau Sterling Silver and Engraved Glass Inkwell
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in New York, NY
Art Nouveau sterling silver and clear glass inkwell. Made by Tiffany & Co. in New York. Bellied and lobed clear glass base with short inset foot and carved and engraved stylized flow...
Sterling Silver