The New York City-based jewelry brand gives vintage embroidered ribbon a fresh twist in its latest offering.
When Larkspur & Hawk founder Emily Satloff began collecting vintage ribbons decades ago, she had no idea how she intended to use them. “It was only in the past couple of years that I had the idea to incorporate them into the Larkspur & Hawk collection,” she says.
The designer, who began crafting jewelry in 2008, marries her love of antiques with a modern sensibility in her pieces. She makes use of the foiling technique popular in the Georgian era, whereby metallic foils are placed behind gemstones to enhance their color and sparkle — which gave birth to the idea of doing something similar with the ribbons she had gathered.
For the brand’s new limited-edition Ribbon collection, ribbons are used to line each setting, beneath faceted quartz stones, lending pieces a unique, soft and sentimental look as the material is revealed through the stones.
The collection comprises 15 pieces that showcase five of Larkspur & Hawk’s popular silhouettes, including rivière necklaces and button earrings. Each piece features white quartz stones set in either yellow gold-washed sterling silver or white rhodium-washed sterling silver. Hand-cut French ribbon with a delicate pink floral garland on a soft blue, pale pink or white background is placed in the settings underneath the stones, preserving the delicate embroidery. The trick is to ensure that each ribbon is the perfect thickness to allow the stones to be laid and set, and to make sure that the pattern fits the stone.
The “hero” of the collection is the Lily Sampler Rivière necklace, which features oval, white quartz stones lined with an assortment of 23 colorful antique French ribbons, collected by Satloff over the years. Bespoke commissions are also available.
“I am sure my fondness for [ribbons] derives from my love of the decorative arts,” says the designer. “Ribbons played such an important role in clothing and interiors 200 years ago, and they were rarely the headliner, rather they were a part of the larger picture. For the Larkspur & Hawk Ribbon collection, I wanted the ribbons to be the focal point and main story, since these beautifully crafted antique ribbons deserved to have a moment to sparkle.”
Main image: Larkspur & Hawk Lily Sampler Rivière necklace set with antique ribbons in 18-karat yellow gold washed sterling silver. (Styled: Colleen Banks/Photography: Rene Cervantes)
