The four C's of diamonds are easy to identify: Carat, Cut, Color, Clarity. The four C's of a brand? Maybe not so much. Here, we ask Pietra's jewelry designers to tell us what makes up their four C's: who is their dream celebrity? What is a common trait of all their amazing clients? What is the most prized piece from their collection, and what is unique about their craft.
If you've been on the hunt for a modern day locket, Devon Woodhill is the brand to google search. Designer Melissa Levy has made a name for herself by creating timeless pieces with just enough edge to earn them the title "statement-maker." Here, she shares her 4Cs.
CELEBRITY
I love celebrities. It's J-Lo. Emily Blunt, Cate Blanchett, Blake Lively. Beyonce...I love how each of them embrace life. Those women care about quality. They care about family. There's a refinement to them. And those are the things that are important to me, too. I remember once seeing Beyonce shopping in New York City and there was something just really special about being able to see her in that space. There was just an openness and a freshness.
CLIENT
My client is the person looking for their jewelry to have meaning, for it to be beautifully crafted, but for it to make them feel good. It's a person who values quality. Quality of possessions, of life, of relationships..It's a person who's who's grounded in their stories and just sort of feels things and wants to express that through their jewelry.
COLLECTION
The locket across the board is the center piece, the linchpin of the collection. I love all of them, or I wouldn't have created them. Each one is infused with symbolism. One of the universal themes of Devon Woodhill is the idea of "letting the light in."
I incorporate the Trefoil design (from Gothic architecture) on the top of each piece. I studied city planning and I love architecture. So that's an homage to the Gothic architecture where windows were created in that shape to allow beautiful rays of light to illuminate a space.
I apply it in my work to show that it's also an illumination into ourselves to simultaneously uplift us, but also ground us. The locket is just the idea of carrying love and bringing out what we value in the highest quality.
CRAFT
Before creating my own, I had worn a locket for years and years and I always tucked it inside whatever I was wearing. I started having people make them for me, actually, just all different styles that I liked. But I still always felt they weren't quite right. The idea that a locket that I love is that, you know, it can be your own secret about what's in there or it's something to share, to talk about to tell your story with people. But I wanted mine to have that pendant-like quality that they are clean. They are fresh. They are not your typical lockets. We wear them on leather or silk cords, all different chains, beads...
I think that's the most unique aspect: the clean lines and how seamless they are.
