1990s David Yurman Diamond, 18 Karat Yellow Gold, Sterling Silver Cable Ring

The signature Cable ring by David Yurman (b. 1942) may appear undeniably industrial in its primal form and overtly minimalist aesthetic, but the New York–born jewelry designer has cited the ornate accessories worn by Syrian women, circa the second century A.D., as well as tree vines that twist to yield intricately intertwined natural cables as inspirations. Although Yurman’s offerings have included numerous collections over the years, the cable motif is, appropriately, a binding agent, uniting his entire body of work and appearing in nearly every piece.

As the artistic attributes of his jewelry suggest, Yurman’s career began as a sculptor. From a young age, he had a passion for working with metal. In fact, as a teenager, he visited his sister in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where her boyfriend, Cuban sculptor Ernesto González, taught him how to weld. Shortly after his summer at the beach, he enrolled at New York University but dropped out after a year to pursue a more bohemian lifestyle in California. New York’s art movement in the 1960s eventually drew him back to the East Coast, where he met sculptor Hans Van de Bovenkamp. In the sculptor’s Greenwich Village studio, Yurman met his future wife and muse, painter Sybil Kleinrock.

Eventually, the pair found themselves working at the center of the American Studio Craft Movement. Yurman started designing pieces specifically for Kleinrock, starting with a belt. Next, a necklace that she wore to a gallery opening where a fellow partygoer became so enthralled by the piece that she wanted to commission Yurman to make more for her to sell. He initially declined because he felt his gift to his wife was too personal for reproduction, but Kleinrock managed to convince him otherwise, and, in 1980, the David Yurman brand was born.

Three years later, Yurman launched his signature Cable collection — the result of twisting 50 feet of metal wire into a helix. It started with the Cable bracelet, also designed initially for Sybil. After the success of the bracelet, Yurman introduced the Cable ring, then a simple metal band characterized by the original accessory’s textured woven threads, of course. Such fashion legends as Kate Moss and Amber Valletta have been photographed donning various pieces from the brand's widely adored Cable collection.

Today, David Yurman’s company is still owned by the founders — a refreshing anomaly for the industry — and the Cable ring has evolved to include different gemstones, two-toned metal bands and is available in larger styles. 

Perhaps the ultimate artistic couple, sculptor David Yurman (b. 1942) and his wife, painter Sybil Kleinrock (b. 1942), couldn’t have imagined they’d build an internationally renowned fine jewelry empire when they met in 1969 at a sculpture studio in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Eleven years later, in 1980, the duo established the David Yurman brand and it boomed almost instantly, a by-product of the pair’s love for and commitment to making art. (They’ve been known to call their business as well as their relationship “one big art project.”) In fact, Yurman’s most recognizable piece, the Cable bracelet, was inspired by his background in metalworking and direct welding, skills he learned when he was just a teenager. It is a marvelously modern accessory rooted in everything from jewelry motifs of ancient Syria to the natural formations of tree branches that would yield the Cable ring, earrings and other items.

When Long Island, New York–born Yurman was in high school, he spent a summer visiting his sister in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he met Cuban sculptor Ernesto González, who taught him how to heat and fuse metals. After that fateful summer, Yurman experimented feverishly with bronze sculpture and, eventually, minimalist jewelry design.

Yurman studied briefly at New York University, opting to drop out after a year to hitchhike across the United States, ending up in an artist colony on California’s Big Sur coastline. The bustling artists’ scene in New York during the 1960s eventually drew him back to the East Coast. There, he trained under Cubist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, and, by 1969, he was a foreman in sculptor Hans Van de Bovenkamp’s Greenwich Village studio. It was in the studio that he met Kleinrock.

Kleinrock and Yurman began a romantic relationship, and he designed her a sculptural welded bronze necklace to wear to an art gallery opening. The gallery owner was so enchanted by the design — Yurman called it the Dante — that she wanted to buy it on the spot. Yurman refused because he considered the gift too personal, but his partner left it with the dealer. Within hours, four necklaces were sold and a brand was born.

A year after the two married in 1979 — the ceremony included simple gold rings Yurman had soldered from gold in his workshop — they officially launched David Yurman. Three years later, one of his most popular designs, the Cable bracelet, hit the market.

Today, David Yurman’s bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings are widely treasured, distinctive works of American jewelry design.