TAIGAN: How’d a nice girl from North Carolina become this super cool, world famous designer of some of the most coveted jewelry on earth? Is it something you always loved?
KIMBERLY MCDONALD: I’m from Asheville, NC (land of the sky, and still my favourite place on earth) and have always loved rocks. I spent hours every summer picking agates out of the gravel in my grandma’s driveway. My favourite Christmas present as a kid was my rock tumbler. Yeah, I was as much of a geek as it sounds. I still am, I think!
I always loved jewelry, too. I used to load on whatever I could get my hands on from my mom or grandma’s dressing table. I began collecting antique fine jewelry in my 20s. I spent a few years living part time in Paris, and became addicted to trolling for fabulous little fine treasures at the Marches aux Puces. I realized that I could create a career working with amazing jewelry, and came up with the idea of curating private jewelry collections. I came up with the title Jewelry Curator way before it was being used within the industry and worked with a few select clients. It didn’t take long for me to find my way to designing custom pieces, and I think that once that happened, I knew I would eventually have my own collection.
It just took time and courage…and finding a starting point. For me, that was when I found my first petite geode. It was love at first sight. It was sparkly, earthy, and nobody else I had every seen was using that material. Kind of like a little piece of heaven with my name all over it.
TAIGAN: You use organic and natural materials in such a non-arts-and-crafty way. If mean if most people took a geode and made it into something to wear, it would look like a summer camp crafts project gone wrong. What is the secret of turning these materials into such high-style, drop-dead gorgeous pieces?
KM: I think that having a background in fine jewelry, and being fortunate enough to work with some of the most amazing jewelery designers and manufacturers in the world, helped me immensely. I remember my friend (and one of said amazing designers) Nicholas Varney once said to me “Buy what is beautiful, and you will be just fine.” To me, these materials are beautiful. They are microcosms. Each is a unique piece of art. I think that they are fine and that they deserve to be treated as such. I don’t hate the artsy way of setting natural stones such as geodes, agates, and druze, but I think they look even more amazing when their natural beauty is simply enhanced with a little diamond and very fine hand-made mountings that articulate the nuances of each and every stone.
TAIGAN: You have a special affection for the under-appreciated opal…
KM: Opals have been the victim of bad PR! Most Americans think of them as whitish stones with rainbow flecks, set in pre-fab gold mountings, or in weird compounded forms known as doublets – which I personally find offensive. There is even some silly myth that if you buy yourself an opal and it isn’t your birthstone, it’s bad luck. Hell, I can’t imagine an opal being anything but good luck to anyone who is savvy enough to scoop one up. With natural /untreated stones becoming more and more popular and coveted, opals are leading the charge. Various forms of opal in the matrix or host rock are popping up in fine jewelry collections around the globe. They are magical. They light up from within as if you’re being invited into some little fantasy world where everything shimmers in blues, greens, and pinks. As you can tell, I have a thing for stones that have something amazing inside. I feel the same way about people.
Anyhow, Opals just need to be understood. And you have GOT to buy from someone who is reputable. I buy from only one supplier. His family has been in the business for like 4 generations. He knows which opals will stand the test of time and which will fracture easily. Unscrupulous dealers have been known to sell the latter, claiming it to be the former. It is like with any other stone. If people were more educated, they could make more intelligent decisions about what they are buying…and I believe the more we educate the consumer about opals, the more they will fall in love with them. Especially now, when there is such an exciting variety out there on the market.
TAIGAN: You are fond of using reclaimed materials, such as that amazing emerald ring that is at Forty Five Ten in Dallas. There’s also a carved buddha at Forty Five Ten that is stunning.
KM: The emerald was brought to me as one of 5 pieces that one of my manufacturers had plucked from an old necklace that was in a dragon/serpent motif. He estimated the necklace was over 200 years old, and from China. The stones were untreated and I swear, they glow. I ended up with 3 of the 5 stones. The emerald at Forty Five Ten is the last one.
The Buddhas in my collection are from very old ivory, carved around 1900. I am vehemently opposed to the use or sale of new ivory. I think elephant poachers should be shot on sight. They are the most amazing animals. The material I work with is considered to be vintage/antique and I would never resort to using anything that I even suspected of being new. That said, the details in the carvings are amazing and each Buddha has a beautiful serene look on (his) face. I love them.
TAIGAN: Tell us what is coming up in your next collection.
KM: Two things that I am very excited about. One is Zebra Opal. We are the only ones that I know of who have this material. It is amazing and completely natural. I’m obsessed.
I also JUST this week got this amazing natural chalcedony that has stunning white and caramel coloured stripes. It is so chic. I can’t stop staring at the first pieces of material that we just received. Stay tuned!!!
Above, clockwise from far left: Geode Frosty Double Drop Earrings; Designer Kimberly McDonald (photo courtesy of Therese McKeon); Opal and Brown Diamond Ring in 18K Rose Gold; Emerald and Diamond Ring in 18K Yellow Gold; Large Purple Geode and Diamond Ring in 18K Yellow Gold
Shop Forty Five Ten on TAIGAN.com
Elusive Find: Oysterman
