ESQUELETO

Apr 2

CALIFORNIA & NEW YORK

In their own words

"What I love about jewelry is the tangibility of it, the extension of personal expression that extends to the wearer. And the three-dimensionality of it, the tactile part of jewelry. It's a miniature art form—you can take it wherever you want."

-Lauren

Jason’s interview with Lauren

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Read the full interview.

Jason: Today we're talking to Lauren Wolf from ESQUELETO. Tell us the background story. What do you love about jewelry?

Lauren: I went to the University of Georgia—I'm from Atlanta originally. I found myself in the journalism school studying advertising. They also had a fantastic art school, but you couldn’t do anything part-time. I had all these artistic interests like printmaking and textile design, but I wasn't ready to make this full jump into the art world as my career. And yet here I am. At the time I thought: I really love advertising and journalism so I want to stick with that, the business side of things.

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But a friend of mine came back and she had studied in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. It was a jewelry program; she was an art student. She brought these little mini sculptures back from Mexico. I thought, “Wow, this is really amazing.” At that time what I couldn't really grasp as a career in art was the two-dimensionality of the artwork. To me, it wasn't interactive enough. A beautiful photograph on your wall or a painting can be so impactful for so many people, myself included. But what I love about jewelry is the tangibility of it, the extension of personal expression that extends to the wearer, and the three-dimensionality of it. I love the tactile part of jewelry and that it's a miniature art form—you can take it wherever you want. So that's really the attraction for me with jewelry. And then the process of construction.

Jason: Tell me more about that.

Lauren: I love the hands-on part of it, in that you can start with something so raw and basic and then turn it into a truly beautiful piece of artwork. It's amazing. And sometimes, I'm still surprised when these beautiful diamond rings come out of our studio. Personally, I love the lost-wax process. Again, sort of a nod to the art of sculpture and the three-dimensionality of working with wax. I also studied traditional silversmithing in San Miguel. So, I love both, but my true love is probably the wax.

Jason: Tell me more about your time in San Miguel.

Lauren: I did a study abroad in San Miguel per the recommendation of this friend that had studied down there. It truly was a phenomenal, eye-opening experience: I discovered my true love for this art form. It was great to go there with a completely fresh slate—not having studied art traditionally—and having this medium to work with that I immediately fell for. And there's so much history in Mexico, and I had a unique teacher who, at a young age made a very big impression on me as a jeweler.

Jason: Tell us about that person.

Lauren: Billy King from the Sterling Quest School in San Miguel. He's a Canadian ex-pat, moved to Mexico, raised his family. He is a phenomenal jeweler and a little crazy but amazing. As long as you are open to working with Billy and his style of teaching, you can learn a lot, learn to appreciate the work that he does.

Jason: Was there a specialty that he taught you that you still use to this day?

Lauren: He was so stubborn. He only wanted to teach metalsmithing. He was like, “Waxes, that's for the birds. If you're going to come here, you're going to be a metal artist. That's all I teach.” It was a great foundation and I immersed myself in that work for six months straight. I truly got my footing as a metal artist. Then I thought, there's got to be more to the process so, I decided to come back stateside and moved to New York City and attended F.I.T.— the jewelry associate degree program. It was phenomenal. I did carry that stubbornness along with me like Billy had taught me. I remember thinking, “I don't need jewelry rendering. I just need lost-wax casting and carving. I don't need stone setting.” But I did learn a lot and I had my true introduction to 47th Street and the vendors and artists there. That was priceless.

Jason: You have your own line. And at the same time you've brought other people up with you. I want to acknowledge you there. Is there any advice you would give an aspiring jewelry designer?

Lauren: Gosh. Prepare to work hard and to work a lot. You know, I think being a jewelry designer has grown in popularity over the years— which has been great. I mean, when I started, there weren't a ton of women-owned jewelry businesses. It has grown in popularity as a career and a medium, which is fantastic. But that does up competition and oversaturation. I would say to any aspiring jeweler, make sure this is the career you want and be prepared to work really hard. I learned that the hard way in New York City. I had big ideas and big dreams and got my work into Barneys. And I thought, “This is great.” Then comes the humble reminder…you have to keep working hard. I remember being very, very eager to get into the design world and into the shops I loved. And I had this great platform in New York City. At the same time, I still had a lot to learn as a jeweler. I was in the studio all the time, working really hard, which is what you have to do to get something off the ground. In retrospect, I find myself thinking that I should’ve taken that design rendering class because now I do so much CAD work. I have to do drawings and designs for custom clients, although I have a great team that helps with that. Patience and skill are still very important to the craft. So, taking your time and building slowly would be some advice.

Jason: That's great advice. What's inspiring you for your latest collections?

Lauren: I've thought about this: clean lines. And I think people would be surprised to hear that from me because so much of our work is organic and natural. Even our stone selection is sort of unusual. I hesitate to say "trends" because we really are not a trend business—but in engagement, you've seen this trend of more of an organic feel and more of a raw look, which I still love and will always. I'm seeing a shift back to something simpler. Given the times, I think people want to make things easy, not overcomplicate things. So, I see that trend sort of inspiring me.

Jason: Do you find you work better in a studio? How do you find your zen moment of inspiration?

Lauren: Definitely in the studio. I have to admit that the past year has been all time-consuming with business matters, so I found less time to design. Now that we are getting back to a bit of normalcy, we have a great studio in downtown Oakland. We've been here for several years. While it's small, it's a great space and it's great to work in the studio and also in the office. I've tried working in different places, it doesn't really work. I have to be physically here.

Jason: If somebody came into your store today and wanted to experience it, what would it feel like to them?

Lauren: The feeling that I want people to have when they come into the shop is that they've stumbled upon a rare gem, in a sense— they've come to the best little jewelry box around. We love having everyone come through the door, and love having all different price points. We want you to feel comfortable. We carry over 40 different artists. Being able to provide that platform is fantastic.

Jason: If you had an opportunity to dress a famous person alive or from the past, who would it be and why?

Lauren: I wouldn't say I would necessarily want to dress this person, but maybe if he were up for it. I love René Lalique and his work. He is a jeweler from Paris during the Art Deco period. And if you've been to Paris, or you're familiar with that time period and love jewelry, you’ve definitely heard of Lalique. If you look at photos of him, he's very old-timey. I don't think I could offer much in way of dress, but I would love to sit by him for a day to watch his design process because I just love his work. And I was introduced to his work by Billy King, in Mexico.

Jason: In the jewelry business, it's all about trust. What does it mean to you?

Lauren: I think trust is so important. It's a value that I was raised with, to be honest and transparent. It has always been such a core value of mine that coming into this industry just makes sense, right? All of the jewelry industry is built on relationships and trust, on both sides, whether you're working with a diamond dealer, you're working with a store to sell your work, or you're working with a customer to deliver them a beautiful engagement ring. All we have is trust, and I can't imagine not having that in this business—it just wouldn't work. And it's built on years and years of those relationships. And it is about relationships; how you work with people and how you interact on important ideas and deals.

Jason: There’s something really special about love stories in our industry because we are such a milestone business. Is there a romantic story that you can share?

Lauren: One of the surprises for me, being a retailer, I didn't realize how rewarding and special it is to experience these parts of people's lives, and what ESQUELETO becomes to them. I did work with a client in L.A., Preston and his now-wife, Jessica. He was so involved in the design process, which I always really appreciate. I was down in L.A. at the time and we did a little tweak to an existing design. He was so excited about it and I remember my store staff saying, “I think that's the only ring that she didn't like in the store.” I was like, “Oh, no!” I don't know if that was true but she loves the ring. They’re a great couple. I don't know how he proposed but I do know where they had their wedding. And they went to Oaxaca, and it was during the Day of the Dead, and they dressed up and painted their faces and had this crazy, over-the-top, beautiful celebration. It was just really wonderful to be a very small part of that.

Jason: I know you support school fundraisers and other charities. Is there anything that you collaborated on that you want to share with us?

Lauren: We donate a percentage of April sales to Casa Girl, which is a charity partnership that aids and advocates for abused and/or neglected children that come into the court system. The volunteers advocate on behalf of these children to get them into a safe environment and place them in homes where they can thrive. This is an organization that my mother volunteers and works for and has for many years. Charity and donation are always top of mind for us. We are very close to Creative Growth here in downtown Oakland. And we did this amazing partnership with them where myself and a couple of other employees spent four-to-six weeks working directly with the artists to create a large-scale jewelry necklace where we used sculpture and weavings over these different periods. And that was amazing. I personally love that one.

Jason: ESQUELETO is growing and expanding. Can you tell us more about your jewelry and lifestyle empire and what's next for you?

Lauren: I started out as a jeweler and always will be a jeweler. That’s something I'll never be able to truly walk away from. But I do find myself, now, more of a retailer, and a buyer, and seller, which is exciting. Being a lifelong jeweler would have been rewarding but having this separate path into this different type of jewelry world has been great. What is most exciting about it is being able to bring this type of work to customers and a wider audience in general. Like I said earlier when you walk into our store, you're finding something different and that's special. I would love to continue to offer that to a wider audience. We have plans to open a boutique in San Diego this summer.

Jason: Amazing.

Lauren: We know that we have interest and an audience there because they drive up from San Diego to L.A. to get engagement rings. We've been hearing this for four years, so we're listening and we're going to bring our little shop to you guys. We're listening to the demands and the interest of our clientele, trying to expand our brand, what we offer, and what we offer for our artists, as well. Visibility to a wider audience is the path and the direction for Esqueleto. We've also expanded into the home and textile market—not largely—but that is obviously an interest of mine. We love the artists that we work within that realm, and at some point, we'd really love to expand those offerings because jewelry and textiles go hand in hand.

Jason: It's great to have a chance to interview you. And I hope all the best for you.

Lauren: Yes. Thank you, Jason. I really appreciate it. It's been fun talking.