Artistry revisited
Pam Older definitely wears her own jewelry.
On a recent day, in fact, she opens the door to her Larchmont home practically dripping in it.
She shares, with a laugh, that she did indeed layer it on in preparation for a photograph.
But here”™s the clincher ”“Â it doesn”™t look even slightly overdone.
That is the beauty of Older”™s creations.
Fashioned out of an array of semiprecious stones and set in various metals, the jewelry of Pam Older Designs is distinctive yet delicate. The pieces are classic and feminine, but still feel contemporary and fresh.
And since their launch in 2003, they have provided Older with a creative outlet that combines her passion for art, travel, design and yes, jewelry.
No one can fault Older for wearing her work. What woman could resist an unlimited selection of necklaces and earrings that boast garnets or amethysts, whiskey quartz or tanzanite, chalcedony or pearls, moonstones or turquoise?
For Older, it”™s all about breaking out after many years in an environment that was more about nuts, bolts and blending in.
“I worked in a corporate setting. I was wearing pearls and gold.”
And she was becoming quite the success in magazine publishing. Her decades in the field included stints as the worldwide production manager for Time magazine and as a senior vice president in charge of production and technology for The New Yorker. Older left the field when a corporate takeover meant an assignment that took her out of her element ”“ and took the fun out of her job.
Searching for something new, she returned to an old love.
It was back during college days at the University of Miami in Florida that Older, who grew up in the Hartford area, came to learn about making jewelry.
One day the art major was playing around with some of her decidedly amateur pieces and took them to a boutique to see if they might like to sell them.
“I was supposed to be studying for my finals,” she says. “I walked in and showed off these ”˜masterpieces”™ ”“ and they said, ”˜We do need a salesperson.”™”
Despite the unintended slight, she did take the job and worked there during her last two years of college, learning professional jewelry skills such as lost-wax casting along the way.
After graduation, Older headed to New York City, got into publishing and didn”™t look back.
“I didn”™t think about jewelry for 25 years. Now I can”™t believe it, because everything I do is creative.”
A beading class at Mamaroneck High School got Older on the way.
“It just started exploding. All my roots, all the experience started coming back.”
She was making pieces all the time and once took something in to show to a boutique in Manhattan. The owner bought it on the spot, leading Older to believe “This is something.”
From the start, she felt her work stood out.
“I thought I had something a little bit different,” she says.
And it has caught on.
Older has drawn on her business background to expand her company”™s reach. She sells online (pamolderdesigns.com) and exhibits at trade shows, street fairs, arts festivals and charity events. Among the network of some 50 boutiques and museum shops across the country that carry her designs are E.B. Barrett Inc. in Larchmont and Glass Onion Originals in Pleasantville.
Older”™s work is also featured in national catalogs such as Arhaus Jewels. She”™s especially pleased with a nearly three-year association with the Sundance catalog. Since 1989, founder Robert Redford has helmed the company that showcases the creations of artists across America.
“I”™m really proud of that,” she says.
Older launched her company using high school students as her first assistants. Today, assistants allow her to focus more on design.
“It”™s really about blending colors. It”™s the stones I have on hand ”“ and I have millions. It”™s just coming up with new colors.”
And those designs are constantly coming.
“That”™s my problem”¦ I go to bed thinking about it.”
Older is inspired by the exotic locales ”“ and the stones themselves ”“ that she comes across on travels to Thailand, India, Nepal and Morocco.
Carved tourmalines found on her last trip to India, for example, led to another new design, as did a series of photographs she shot on that journey.
“I don”™t limit myself at all. Whatever I like I make.”
Customers, she says, respond.
“Something that”™s handmade, there”™s some intrinsic value to it.”
Lately, she”™s been captivated by the glittering crystal bits found in the various colors of druzy quartz.
And even with the addition of new elements, Older says, “somehow it comes out looking like my stuff.”
Stone by stone, she”™s found a way to make her passion part of her daily life.
“I do it because I love it, and I can”™t think of anything else right now I”™d want to do.”
For more on Pam Older and her jewelry, visit pamolderdesigns.com.