How a Seaside Childhood Memory Birthed the Renna Jewelry Brand

It began with finding two shells on a beach and has since evolved into a sought-after independent jewelry brand with a studio in New York’s Meatpacking District, retail partners around the country, and clients from Romania to Singapore. Renna jewels are vessels for personal narratives, drawing on founder and designer Renna Brown-Taher’s childhood by the ocean.

“My mother and I would hunt for coffee bean shells on the shores of Laguna Beach,” recalls the jeweler, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. “They’re incredibly rare; most days, we’d go home empty-handed. But one day, we found two.”

She describes her mother as an “effortlessly cool beach girl,” and herself as painfully shy. Shell-hunting adventures became a shared private ritual — and years later, as a graduation gift, Brown-Taher’s mother gave her a gold bracelet cast from molds of the two shells. “Unbeknownst to me, my mom had kept those two tiny shells in her safety deposit box with her most precious items. They started everything.”

Learning the craft

After spending childhood Saturdays in the back rooms of Cartier and Bulgari while her mother worked on the retail floor, going into jewelry felt “completely natural,” says the designer. “I had an instinct.” She went on to graduate as a gemologist and joined the jewelry team at Sotheby’s New York, where she learned to recognize craftsmanship and identify what makes a piece timeless. But what struck her most were the conversations she had with clients whose jewelry collections told their personal stories.

“Jewelry became a lens into their lives as they shared family stories, memories, even grief,” she relates. Struck by design icon Suzanne Belperron’s famous quote, “My jewelry is my signature,” Brown-Taher realized that she wanted to make jewelry herself.

“I knew what a beautiful jewel looked like, but I had no idea how to make one,” she says. She spent months in New York’s Diamond District, learning from different experts about casting, polishing and setting. But frustratingly, none of the pieces she made felt original enough.

“Eventually I looked down at my wrist and realized the answer had been with me all along,” she remembers. The gold shell bracelet from her mother, which she had worn every day since her graduation, inspired her first collection of gold jewelry.

Lobster clasps and octopus intaglios

Today, the brand produces jewels of all categories, taking inspiration from the magic of the ocean. Renna has become known for its Nautilus rings, diamond Bubble bracelets, gold Wave earrings, and chunky, diamond-scattered lobster clasps on charm bracelets and necklaces. Its Zodiac pendants are top sellers, as are the diamond and gem cluster Tidepool collection and gemstone Galaxy bracelets, which offer “beautiful ways to personalize jewelry without being too on-the-nose,” according to the designer.

The ancient art of intaglio has also found a place in Renna’s collections. The jeweler’s first piece using the engraving technique featured an octopus to symbolize intelligence, with gems framing the image to make it look like a tiny rock pool. The line now includes other designs such as starfish (luck), clouds (dreams) and stars (wishes), drawing clients into Brown-Taher’s nature-inspired world.

“Recently we’ve had several custom requests and will soon be introducing name-engraved intaglios,” she says. “In today’s world, people crave meaning and individuality in what they wear.”

This means the small details are vital to her brand’s identity, from those perfect lobster clasps to earrings. “Behind the scenes, I’m lucky enough to have an incredible production team, and I still do plenty of product testing myself,” relates the designer. Her involvement in the development process has led to innovations like adding hinges to ear cuffs for extra comfort — a collaborative effort with David Hakimian of DEH Jewelry Solutions. Those statement ear cuffs have since become defining pieces in the collection.

Sustainable success

For a jewelry brand that draws so deeply on the natural world, sustainability is a priority. Brown-Taher works with local Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC)-verified workshops to create her jewels, and sometimes sources gemstones directly from producers, including aquamarine from Zimbabwe’s women-run Zimbaqua mine, and Ocean Diamonds from the ocean floor off South Africa. She is also considering transitioning to 100% Single Mine Origin gold, which is traceable to individual mines in west Africa and western Australia.

“I’m always seeking out new advancements in sustainable practices, because there’s always more to learn,” she explains.

While she’s achieved a lot of her goals with the business, she’s still looking to the future. “If you had asked me at the beginning what success would look like, I would’ve described exactly where we are today,” she says. “Now that we’re here, I feel like the sky’s the limit.”

And where are those shells now? Safely tucked away among her own treasured items as a reminder of how the story of her now-thriving business first began. “My mother always taught me that your greatest treasures aren’t necessarily the most expensive; they’re the most meaningful. Jewelry that tells a story — your story — resonates on a deep level.”

Main image: Renna Brown-Taher. (Renna)