Jennifer Kahn Jewelry

I make jewelry for the modern bohemian: artists, yogis, professionals, mothers, teachers, servers, live-music seekers, tea drinkers, deep thinkers & all those who appreciate comfort & style. The best compliment my jewelry gets is hearing how many compliments my customers get when they wear my work.

I always knew I wanted to work with my hands...make a living from my hands. I've had a love of and fascination with jewelry for as long as I can remember. The path unfolded before me, my senior year at UVM, discovering PMC and meeting renowned jewelry artist Celie Fago. For 9 years I was her apprentice and teaching assistant and I traveled with her around the country and abroad.

I've been selling my jewelry locally in Vermont for over 20 years now and my work is in 80 shops, galleries, general stores and yoga studios. I've made 7500 sales on Etsy and my jewelry’s been included in exhibits in the US, UK and Japan. My work's been featured in top jewelry magazines and several books and made the cover of the Lark book "Stitched Jewels". I love what I do and feel very lucky to be doing it!

*The JK symbol that I use is not only my initials, it is also the Chinese symbol for "Forever".

My goal is to put a contemporary spin on ancient designs, as I’m influenced by both artifacts and fashion. I’m fascinated by the way things are put together: patched, hinged, riveted, stitched, wrapped and often incorporate such connections in my pieces. I gather inspiration from a pattern on a textile; the texture of a leaf; beautiful, old rusty things.

My designs fuse old and new, industrial and natural, urban and ethnic. I work with high quality and ethically sourced materials and recycled silver including: PMC (Precious Metal Clay), 24k gold, sterling, copper, brass, stones, found objects, upcycled leather and (ethically sourced) feathers. Through all of this craftsmanship is key, which causes me to think about every part of a piece, the back must be as compelling as the front. For that reason most of my pendants and necklaces are reversible. Comfort is another thing I take into consideration, rings are smooth inside and earrings are lightweight.

I patina (darken) all of my work to cause the texture to really stand out and I give it a matte finish which makes it look old and unlike a lot of shiny jewelry out in the world.

I do my best to leave a tiny footprint, to give back to my community and to make choices in line with my values.