Laura Lobdell makes adorable jewelry that is sold at her adorable West Village boutique. She chatted with me about her line, her shop, and her adorable dog, too.
Laura Lobdell, who are you?
An artist, traveler, and collector of vintage textiles and clothes, and just about getting to be a real New Yorker. I’m not unlike my imaginary muse, Freebird (“bird” as in the Cockney slang for girl) — she knows Rome, eats candy, and plays with matches.
When did you open your adorable little West Village shop?
I got the lease for a tiny space at 183 West 10th Street at 2 o’clock in the afternoon on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2008, and painted into the night with two good friends to open Friday. Since then, I’ve added a 1/8. So it’s 183 1/8 West 10th Street.
You take everyday objects and turn them into jewelry. What was the first object you re-created?
Though I had made the key to my Nana’s chocolate safe for my first trunk show at Madeline Weinrib Atelier at ABC Home in 2004, the Guitar Pick was really the first piece in the way I work now. I’d listen to friends play acoustic gigs, and they would lose their picks and call out to the audience for a quarter or nickel to use instead. One night, I realized I could make them picks to wear and play with — ending the quarter/nickel call and resulting in a necklace that girlfriends stole from the guys and so on …
Have you ever attempted to make an object into jewelry that just did not work?
Oh, of course! My favorite failure is the whole lobster claw from a pre-summer-thunderstorm dinner, which I tried to make in sterling silver in life size..
I adore your champagne-cork ring. What inspired that? How did you create it?
Thank you! I was at a party in France, several languages were swirling around, and I was feeling tired from skiing and in my own head. I started playing with the cage to an opened champagne bottle. I fashioned it into a ring and saw the formal beauty of something I had always associated with celebration, romance, and happiness, and decided it would make a fantastic ring in precious metal. Back in New York, the Champers Ring came to life with a combination of sculpting and lost-wax casting.
Where do you make your jewelry?
All of my precious-metal pieces are artisan-crafted right here in New York, which is something very important to me. I’ve done projects made internationally — for example, Amicita peace bracelets in Nepal — and seek more ways to work on textile-based designs with craftspeople of communities in need.
What is the must-have piece in your collection for women?
The Champers Ring! It’s a signed, copyrighted piece and so much fun to wear. My collectors tell me that when people see that it’s a champagne cage, they’re asked for the ring to try on. They’re wonderful gifts, which we can hand-engrave to personalize them with initials, crests, dates — like “Vintage 2011” for anniversaries, baby birth years, anything.
I asked a girl if her gift, given to her Parisian mother, was well received. And the answer also answers how to wear it: The Parisian was so thrilled with her present that by the next day, she had her nails painted silver to match the champagne ring, worn with a stack of Hermès enamel bangles. I should send her a bottle of Laura Lobdell 183 nail polish, made to wear with my designs! So, as with all of my jewelry, the appeal is to personalize it, mix it, and go casual-chic or put on a party dress.
What is the must-have piece in your collection for men? Any advice on how to wear jewelry?
The Guitar Pick is a men’s classic, but the Old School Pull Tab worn as one, or as the Six Pack Necklace, is a favorite. I found a case of beer cans in the sand dunes in Montauk on my way to sunset cocktails — they’d been there so long the paint was entirely stripped and the cans were a beautiful color of gunmetal. I’ve since used the cans in some of my art. So that’s the Old School Pull Tab story. It looks great on a man worn with a crisp T-shirt or a button-down shirt with the ball-chain or a raw leather cord.
Finally, tell me about your dog. His photos on your website are priceless!
You mean Xiao! His name is Chinese for “little” — I studied Chinese painting and calligraphy while living in Hong Kong and have a mysterious affinity for Asia. With his masked face, East-West eyes, and black and white, he’s always dressed for a party. In fact, he has been known to host a few — his Black & White Ice Cream Social brings a fun crowd for a sidewalk party, with my neighbors joining: Bobo (cocktails), Café Condesa (gelato) … and live music from Small’s Jazz Club. He’s a cover boy — as seen on the book Dog Palaces. But most of the time, he’s perched in the Zebra Chair at the shop, ready to help and greet visitors. He works for treats.
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