About the Jewelry
Joy O Designs creates handmade necklaces, earrings and bracelets that combine
luxurious simplicity with edgy innovation. Modern, minimal and effortlessly
chic, Joy O brings an element of handcrafted beauty into everyday life.
San Francisco-based jeweler Joy Opfer finds inspiration in the materials she
works with: the raw beauty of a Herkimer diamond, the rich texture of hammered
silver, and the sensuous luster of hand-forged gold. The poetic “humanity”
of her jewelry—the ongoing life of the piece—is also a driving force
behind her work. “After a piece leaves my store, it becomes something
else because of the way it’s worn—the things it touches, actions
that get it nicked—and I think that’s gorgeous. The jewelry starts
out with me, but it doesn’t end with me,” says Joy.
Joy began designing her heirloom-quality jewelry when she couldn’t find
exactly what she was looking for. Instead of lifeless jewelry manufactured by
a machine, Joy wanted the imperfect beauty and sensual feel found in jewelry
that has been handcrafted. The result was Joy O Designs—modern, delicate,
one-of-a-kind jewelry that is simple enough to pair with jeans, but special enough
to wear with an evening gown.
Designing her jewelry is an intricate art—while Joy lets the materials
guide her, her meticulous workmanship is also architecturally influenced: “Modern
architecture is all about minimalism, details and the transition point where
materials meet. That’s what my work is about too, on a small and intimate
physical scale. When you get into minimal work, clean connections actually become
part of the design.”
Joy O Designs has caught the attention of the press, and has been featured in
national magazines such as InStyle, Lucky, Star, OK!, Women’s Health, Fitness and
Brides, and seen on celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Eva Longoria, and Emily Deschanel.
Joy O Designs is available at Studio 3579, 499 Dolores Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, online at www.joyodesigns.com, and at select boutiques nationwide.
About Joy
Joy's passion for jewelry-making was sparked in the unlikely surroundings of
a high school Geology class, where Mrs. Higginbotham used half of the semester
to teach her students how to cut, polish, and set stones, as well as create
pieces cast in metal. For Joy, a lifelong hobby was established.
A fine arts degree from Penn State further cultivated Joy's creativity, and
after receiving her master's degree in graphic communication from San Francisco
State University, she rode the dot com rollercoaster as a graphic designer.
Her true talents as a jewelry designer continued to shine through however, and
friends and family began requesting custom pieces as Joy developed a signature
style.
After a successful trunk show, she decided to turn her hobby into a full-fledged
business, and Joy O Designs as a livelihood was born. In 2006, an online web
store was launched, and in 2007, she moved into Studio 3759, a fabulous shared
storefront in the Mission District of San Francisco.
When creating her unique handmade jewelry, Joy finds inspiration from the materials
she uses, from nature, and from the ongoing life of her jewelry. Her pieces
have an organic aesthetic, as Joy allows the materials to guide her design.
Using sterling silver, gold fill and vermeil along with precious and semi-precious
stones ensures the durability and heirloom quality of all of the pieces.
Joy credits the support of her amazing family and friends, and the love and
influence of her wonderful husband for the continued success of Joy O Designs.
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