Contemporary Vintage

Lorna's Contemporary Vintage collection merges the past and future to create heirloom quality designs. 

Representing a true collaboration with the past, the Contemporary Vintage collection features precious metal formed from historical tools, carved in steel by artisans in the 1800s.  

In the industrial revolution, jewelry making represented the height of technology. Using mechanical force and leverage, hand carved designs could be replicated in gold and silver at large scale. These factories once rang with steel hammers and motors, today many of them have been torn down, or turned to condos. Through the preservation efforts of several American toolmakers, this long-ago artistry has been kept alive. These salvaged and restored steel-carved designs are often as crisp and clean as they were 150 years ago, and are still being used to create tools today. Lorna uses many of these traditional tools and methods in her work.

Lorna collects these tools and designs, choosing the most beautiful for reinvention. These designs embody timeless style, and Lorna incorporates them into new jewelry for a modern audience. A motif from a match safe might become a bracelet. A button might become a jeweled pendant. By using many of these traditional techniques, Lorna hopes to honor the skill of these artisans and help to keep this beautiful part of our artistic history alive.