This designer from Down Under has been living his dream in New York, creating antique-inspired jewelry.
A self-proclaimed “true lover of all things that sparkle,” Australian-born Ray Griffiths started his career at 15 as an apprentice at a high-end restoration house in Melbourne. His father, a shoemaker, connected him to the place’s owner. Later, he attended the Institute of Gemology in Sydney and moved to London for a few years. But 25 years ago, in 1997, he decided to follow his dreams and moved again to New York City, to keep developing his artistic potential and visionary design.
Griffiths’s atelier on Fifth Avenue, in front of the Empire State building, has large windows, allowing the light to enter and to provide a luxurious architectural environment for his creations. Many different historical jewelry styles — the Regency and Edwardian eras, as well as Moorish aesthetics, and Roman and Greek antiquity — inspire him.
His reinterpretation of antique styles can be found in his signature technique, Crownwork, trademarked in 2014. Originally seen in European tiaras and crowns from the 17th to 19th centuries, the procedure was used to make crowns and tiaras lightweight. Griffiths learned about it as a teenager, while he was at the restoration house. “The combination of the crownwork and modern clean lines in my jewelry make the perfect combination of antique and modern,” he says.
Custom-made pieces play a big part in his creative activity. The designer loves bringing back to life old and treasured jewels, recutting pre-owned stones, and working with tricky repairs. Most of his new customers are familiar with his style before they visit him, so “it’s about getting to the bones of what they need and delivering,” he explains. The goal is to achieve something that reflects a marriage of the customer’s style with his own, and lots of conversations take place in the design process. Also, sometimes he does a bit of research on the client’s social-media profiles to understand who they are.
Whether it is a gold-melting process or a resetting for stones that have a special meaning, Griffiths understands his customers are looking for someone they can trust, especially taking care of the role played by the emotional values of each jewel. “My job is to try to embody the emotion that lies within the piece. I try to find the heart of the piece and make sure we honor that with the new design,” he notes.
In the ’80s and ’90s, Griffiths recalls being in love with South Sea pearls. Today he favors Baroque natural shapes, which fit into casual dress patterns. He also appreciates contemporary artists like Arman Sarkisyan “for his technique and design” and Gabriella Kiss “for her aesthetic.”
Because his preferences and interests are constantly changing, his creations do as well. The belief that jewelry is not seasonal but evolutionary is why he has never done seasonal collections. “We all evolve as we get older, and if we stop the evolution, we might all be in trouble,” he says.
Main image: Ray Griffiths, jewelry designer. (Ray Griffiths)
