Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Moore
New York Now from Elizabeth Moore is jewelry you can feel good about.
From starting her career as a professional singer to working as a fit model in the fashion industry, Elizabeth Moore, now a homegrown jewelry designer, has truly shown that opportunities are limitless. Her new handcrafted sustainable jewelry collection, New York Now, serves to empower the wearer to follow that mantra, so we sat down with Moore to learn more about her journey and creating sustainable jewelry.
“All the designers I was working for were working for companies like Gap, Victoria Secret, and Liz Clayborn at the time, and all the designers were saying things like ‘Oh I love that necklace,’ or ‘Where’s that bracelet from?’ so I started saying, “Well, they’re mine!” and they started buying them!” she says. “About five years ago I decided to leave that industry. It was really hard to leave, but it was great because I wanted to give my jewelry business all of my attention.”
As her business grew from the studio in her Westchester house to larger, international manufacturers and supplying events throughout the nation as well as stores in Chappaqua and Ridgefield, Moore wanted to regain control over aspects over the jewelry-making process that make it worthwhile to her. From internal communication to quality control and material, she’s adjusted the direction of her brand to be conscious and sustainable, while maintaining luxuriousness in her new collections.
“What kind of footprint do I want to leave?” she asks. “I believe that every little bit helps no matter how small and, being a mother, the waste and the excess was really starting to get to me. How am I getting this made? Are they getting a fair wage? Am I supporting these kinds of conditions that I wasn’t comfortable supporting? I really wanted transparency and am passionate about sustainability.”
To incorporate sustainability into her brand, Moore’s pieces are cast with 14 and 18 karat gold at a refinery in New York, and all of her diamonds and gems are ethically sourced from mines in the United States. All of her diamonds also fall under the Kimberley Process, a movement to remove conflict diamonds from the global supply chain.
“I have a real strong passion for U.S.-mined gemstones.” Moore sources Arizona turquoise, sunstone from Oregon, and even sparkling sapphires from Rock Creek Mine in Montana. “It’s just being able to know where that happens.”
New York Now features three collections that go together: The Infinity Collection, The Celestial Collection, and the Circle of Fifths, the first of which ties the infinity symbol subtly into each piece.
“For me infinity really announces that opportunities are boundless. The possibilities are infinite and that’s really what it encourages: empowering you for the infinite possibilities that you have before you.”
Moore’s Celestial Collection also incorporates this uplifting message, as it was inspired by her southern upbringing and how she’s brought her family’s supportiveness into her various careers in New York.
“I grew up going to my grandfather’s farm and we were always talking about the constellations and the stars. My parents always encouraged me to reach for the stars, which I tie into my career as a musician. I really believe that every woman is a rock star and this collection helps bring out your own inner rock star because we all need that.”
Her last collection, The Circle of Fifths, playfully incorporates Moore’s love of music with her infatuation with the empowering symbolism behind the number five.
The number five is the number of humanity, so it’s also the number of a personality that’s very outgoing and fearless. All those attributes reflect in the number five and I’m totally obsessed with the number!”
The legacy of all Elizabeth Moore jewelry is to empower the wearer for generations to come, whether it maintains it current shape or lives on as a regenerated family treasure.
“I feel like the world is full of these perfect imperfections that we need to embrace. This is jewelry you take off every night and you put by your bed and you throw it on first thing in the morning. It’s jewelry that women can buy for themselves but it’s not disposable, it’s a bespoke heirloom that down the road you can pass to your daughter, and if your daughter doesn’t like it, she can recycle it and regenerate it, which ties into the whole level of sustainability with my work. She can create something new out of a piece that was handed down.”
You can find Elizabeth Moore jewelry on her website as well as e-retailers such as FashWire, Pietra, and Sotheby’s Home.
