Young designer shapes future in jewelry

Who knew, when Jessica DiRubio started stringing beads as a little girl, that she’d grow up to see her jewelry sparkling back at her from a movie screen?

At just 24, the up-and-coming designer has already had her bejeweled, 18-karat gold pieces worn on a half-dozen television shows. Several more of her items will be seen adorning the stars of a Hollywood film that is due to be out this fall.

The New Canaan native was also selected by industry leaders as one of eight “Rising Stars” this spring at JCK Las Vegas, a trade show attended by more than 3,000 exhibitors, including big names such as Cartier and Tiffany & Co.

“As a new designer, it’s one of the highest accolades you can receive,” said Ms. DiRubio, who was judged on the uniqueness of her jewelry and its ability to adapt year-to-year. “It’s really a validation of your designs and you as a designer and as a new force in the jewelry industry. It really gives you some validity approaching stores.”

Along with being assigned a prominently placed booth at the show, she will join the ranks of previous “Rising Stars,” which include David Yurman and Leslie Greene.

Ms. DiRubio, who has no artistic training, started seriously making beaded jewelry while studying English at Colgate University. She got her start in town when, as her father put it, “she used to come to the Sidewalk Sale and knock them all out of the park.”

Although she now lives and works in Manhattan, Ms. DiRubio will return to her roots with a trunk show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at Henry C. Reid & Son, 72 Elm Street, her exclusive distributor in New Canaan.
Jewelry has been Ms. DiRubio’s full-time pursuit since she graduated in 2005 — “I don’t even have a resume,” she said.

Her beaded collections were sold in stores up and down the East Coast, but she turned her attention last year to the launch of her 18-karat gold line, starting at $290.

“I’ve always loved fine jewelry,” she said. “The other line just really wasn’t scalable.”
Ms. DiRubio works in green gold — a softer-colored alloy than traditional yellow gold she said is popular in Europe — and embellishes with cut stones and cabochons of diamond, tourmaline, pink sapphire, blue topaz, aquamarine, chalcedony, moonstone, kunzite and peridot.

She hires seven goldsmiths and gem-setters in the city to manufacture her jewelry by hand, but shops for materials herself in New York’s Diamond District.

“That’s the fun part, playing with the stones,” she said, barely pausing for breath to rattle off a gemstone hardness scale.

The soaring price of gold is of concern to Ms. DiRubio: “It’s the first thing I check in the morning and the last thing I check at night.”

Inspiration comes from “all over and everything,” from antique jewelry and buttons from the 1920s to the windows of Manhattan architecture.

A long-stemmed rose in her studio blossomed into the rings, earrings, necklaces and cuffs of her “Vine” collection, while peacock’s feathers are the theme of another set.
Snorkeling in St. Bart’s gave her the idea for a ring patterned after a sea anemone.

“It was really important to me to design for everyone,” she said, from “people who work in corporate New York to my mom. A lot of our pieces are very classic but have a sort of whimsical look. It’s all meant to be wearable, very mix-and-match. You want a hand-me-down feel to it, something you’d love to pass down to a daughter or a granddaughter.”

The wearability and comfort associated with each design is a major concern: “It’s important to be aware of the texture of the piece, how the piece feels on. If it’s uncomfortable, you’re not going to wear it,” she said.

Her set of three separate, stacking vine rings are meant to be worn together, but their flexible design allows freedom of movement.

Bezel settings, “with no prongs to pull out,” are common throughout her work.

A computer-aided design program is a handy tool for designing comfortable, perfectly symmetrical ring bases and for determining whether a concept even workable, she said, holding a pair of earrings that took three tries to get the curve of an earlobe just right.

“Some pieces,” Ms. DiRubio  added, “we bail ‘em because mechanically, they just won’t work.”

How long from fantasy to finished piece? Anywhere from three weeks to three months.

Her parents, Jeff and Joanna, deserve credit for their roles in what has “really become a family-run business,” she said.

“My mom has been hugely involved in terms of design work. I think a lot of inspiration I get from her, she has a great eye and a great sense of color.”

That her father, also an entrepreneur, has worked from home for the past 13 years has been a boon for her business education, she said.

“He really has been a guiding hand and a wealth of knowledge. I would never have been able to do it without my dad.”

Learning the financial side of her livelihood was hard at first, she said, but now, “It’s definitely business first and foremost and design second.

“I think, ‘How many models can I get out of one piece, one model, one concept? How can I allocate the money from selling a ring so it’ll make me three more rings?’” she said, “Even though I love the design aspect.”

Being young and breaking into a competitive, male-dominated industry that requires significant start-up capital poses its own challenges.

“Most people take one look at me and think I’m not the designer because I look really young,” said Ms. DiRubio, adding that her long, blonde head of hair doesn’t help.

But selling and the ability to read people comes naturally, she said, and by now she’s pitched her company to hedge funds and venture capitalists.

“Explaining your jewelry to a man isn’t always the easiest thing,” she said. “I’ve found I’ve really been able to start holding my own in terms of what I need from investors. But the jewelry has really spoken for itself. With most stores, we come back with an order because people have seen something new and fresh.”

Ms. DiRubio balances a dream of long-term success in the jewelry industry with a desire to add sparkle to the lives of others. From the very beginning, she has donated pieces to raise money for local causes, including domestic violence awareness, animal welfare and a multiple myeloma charity.

“I love what I do, I wouldn’t trade this for anything. If I do end up big and successful with this I’d love to find a way to inspire women in business because I do think there are so many opportunities for women in business and so few who really get there,” she said. “I’d love the opportunity to give back.”
Source: acorn-online