Discovering Joy O Designs

When you hear the term “handmade jewelry,” images of cornhusk bracelets and crochet necklaces come to mind. Thank the jewelry gods that Joy O’s handmade earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and hairpins are artistic without being arts-and-crafts. Instead, think one of a kindearrings featuring raw, uncut tourmaline in dramatic contrast to the delicate gold wire it’s hand tied to and three-pendant necklaces hand formed out of 14k gold into hexagonal shapes, then asymmetrically hung from a contrasting silver chain.

The line ranges from delicate, organically hand-formed bangles in a mix of polished, hammered, and oxidized for those who lean towards more subtle jewelry, to eye-catching gold bib necklaces for those who like their accessories to take center stage.

This earthy, handcrafted line of jewels has been seen in Hollywood dangling from the lobes of Anne Hathaway and Eva Longoria on multiple occasions. The hands behind the handmade live a few hundred miles away, on the other side of California, and belong to Joy Opfer, a San Francisco-based designer who garners inspiration from the natural state of the gems and metals she sculpts her jewelry out of, as well as from modern architecture. In addition to Hathaway and Longoria, Opfer’s wearable architecture has graced the screen on “Gossip Girl” and has made frequent appearances in the pages of Glamour Magazine, Lucky, and InStyle.