Karen Lindner Designs - Jewelry with History

A return to writing....a continuation of fabulous designing!!

2010-06-30T00:10:00.034-04:00

KLD Signature 19thC Diary Pencils on long chain

Well, a year and a half (almost!) since my last post.....and I am returning to this blog where I posted the beginning days of my company! It has changed & grown SO much since then....and I'm excited to once again post updates on what I've found, what I'm creating, where I'm selling and who is wearing my pieces!!

My work continues to focus solely on antiques, and has developed an aesthetic that is both classic and contemporary - not a found-object collective, but rather a lost treasure vibe - and I have begun to highlight rare hallmarked French, English and Continental sterling objects, amazing mid 20thC rhinestones, and have combined them with my signature cut stone tassels, great sterling chains, and shattered ribbons. My website is the best place to see examples of all of my collections, although I do not retail there at this time. My goal for my work is to see it only in select retail, and especially connected to special people and events. Fine antique redesign can never be the kind of work that takes over the retail world...if you see lines that are in many stores it usually means that the pieces are commonly found, or that a large percentage of the design is not actually antique. I value the one-on-one collaborations that I have with designers, clients, stylists and retailers and am so excited for all of the projects that are being worked on now!!

Here are a few highlights - with much more to come!!

LA Connections......

I have had the opportunity to work with costume designer/stylist Nancy Gould, who placed my pieces in pilots she completed this spring for Fall '10, following years on great shows like Heroes and Friends. The pieces above are in her collection.

KLD Nancy Gould Collection

L-R :

19thC sterling English vesta on long ss chain with pearl tassel

19thC sterling English diary pencil on long ss chain with pearls

c1900 gold watch fob seal with semi precious stone tassel

c1850 sterling love token coin on ss bead chain with topaz

Large green amethyst on vintage chain

Top-Bottom :

Sterling bead chain with Antique Sterling English Watch Fob

French Antique Napkin Ring Cuff

Art Deco French Rhinestone Buckle on Ribbon

Vera Wang Chicago / Belle Vie Bridal Couture

KLD Eisenberg and Art Deco Rhinestone Mosaic on Ribbon, available Summer/Fall 2010

KLD Rhinestone Tangle with Pave Rose, available at Belle Vie Bridal Couture, Spring 2010

KLD French Art Deco Rhinestone Buckles on Ribbon & Eisenberg sterling Mosaic on Ribbon, available at Vera Wang Chicago / Belle Vie Bridal Couture

I continue to sell my Eisenberg pieces exclusively at Vera Wang Chicago and sister store Belle Vie Bridal Couture. These gorgeous, massive 1930s rhinestone clips and pins that are historically relevant to Chicago since they were originally manufactured there in the late 1920s and 1930s, find new homes in stunning mosaic designs as well as suspended from signature Pearl Scarves. They fit perfectly among the stunning gowns that are carried at both salons. Also available there are Art Deco rhinestone buckles on ribbon as well as a collection of various antique pins and pendants.

Additional stores and collaborations that I am thrilled to be working with will be highlighted in future blogs.

Style Highlights - July

My Signature Sterling Napkin Ring Cuffs

KLD 19thC Rare French, English and Continental sterling Napkin Ring Cuffs....each with stunning detail and edgy cuff styling combined with a century and a half of stories!!

These gorgeous contemporary-feeling cuffs are often 120+ years old, and yet look like they came right out of an Elle Magazine photo shoot (and btw, I feel like lobbying for "team Erin" T shirts - ! Did I just think of a good marketing project?? No...too busy....). But these are not the simple creation they may appear to be. It is crucial to be able to find the right size diameter, the most incredible designs, and the *perfect* sterling master to help make the cuffs possible - I actually work with the firm that does Tiffany's sterling work(!!). DO NOT think anyone can cut a napkin ring and - voila! - have a bracelet. Working with antiques is a specialty, takes a professional, and may result in horrible disaster if just done as a DIY project. These pieces need special tools and a lot of care and, of course, proper selection in the first place (my role!!!).

I collect these by the hundreds and have watched them live new lives as great arm decor after years of table dancing. Also fantastic : the essential KLD look requires layering these up your arms, wearing one on each wrist, and/or combining them with other great chain and rhinestone bracelets for the right amount of texture and the required "little bit of noise" :)

Current Style Crush : Barney's New York Creative Director Simon Doonan

Latest Great Style Read : 1stdibs Introspective - Style Compass - Yul Oolu

July Celeb Style Muse : Johnny Depp

Who definitely needs to wear :

KLD Signature c1900 Cut Steel, Layered Metal & Art Deco Rhinestone Buckles on Shattered Ribbons

Next blog : New Retail - including On-Line, New Fall Designs - including stunning 19thC redesigned apparel elements, On-Going Collections that can be re-ordered, and a Style Highlight on my Vintage Rhinestone Tangles - the perfect casual-to-couture accessory...it isn't a look just for the magazines. Plus new crushes, new muses....it's good to be back!

CS Brides & Vera Wang Runway Bridal Event

2009-02-17T17:01:00.002-05:00

My pieces will be in the following event :

AN EVENING OF BRIDAL LUXURY

Chicago's Most Luxurious Bridal Event

6 PM - 9 PM

Thursday, March 26

The Four Seasons Hotel Chicago
120 East Delaware Place

Featuring an exclusive Vera Wang 2009 Bridal Runway Show

Experience the exquisite culinary creations prepared by the chefs of the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago and the lavish event decor through the imaginative wedding design ideas of Heffernan Morgan.

Luxury Swag Bags
Filled with extraordinary gifts in true Oscar style exclusively for the Bride

To purchase tickets, visit www.csbrides.com
A percentage of the proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Network of Strength Illinois

Space is limited. Must purchase tickets by March 13th.

Luxury swag bags are for brides only.

New Eisenberg Pearl Scarves

2009-02-12T21:31:00.006-05:00

I'm sending these, and a couple of others out soon to Belle Vie Bridal Couture. They used some of my work in a runway show in January and will again in March for the CS Brides/Vera Wang show at the Four Seasons in Chicago - I can't wait to see it!

Bracelet Collection

2009-02-12T21:02:00.004-05:00

Pearls, antique crystals, semi precious stones, and antique sterling watch fobs......

Happy 2009!

2009-01-26T13:06:00.009-05:00

I now have a gogeous line of bridal pieces that were actually commissioned by two beautiful salons in Chicago last fall - Belle Vie Bridal Couture and Vera Wang Chicago. They have been in photo shoots and runway shows this winter, and more is coming! Like everything I make, it is limited and unique - not mass produced, and therefore will be exclusive to those two salons for now. A centerpiece of the exclusive collection is a group of signature pieces that I call Eisenberg Pearl Scarves, and they feature large mint vintage Eisenberg fur clips on strands of hand knotted freshwater pearls. The clips were originally created for Chicago fashion house Eisenberg & Sons so they have historic relevance to the salons. So exciting!!

Examples of Eisenberg Originals Pearl Scarves : 1930s-1940s rhinestone fur clips on hand knotted freshwater pearls

Sautoir of hand knotted freshwater pearls with antique chandelier crystal tassels

French orchid "tremblant" pin on hand knotted freshwater pearls

Vintage Trifari 1940s pin on hand knotted freshwater pearls

I am also fortunate enough to have my pieces in two other boutiques where antiques and new merchandise lines live in harmony - and where my things feel right at home : Patina at Home in Cincinnati, and Mulberry & Lime in Lexington. Store info is on my website. For now, that is a comfortable amount of retail......collecting, designing, assembling, packaging, promoting, selling, and maintaining a jewelry line is a lot of work!!! Given the unique nature of what I do, how I have streamlined my collecting to strive to find those stunning singular pieces, my lines will never be huge endless collections. But I learn new things daily, and feel so blessed to have new wonderful people and experiences all the time. It renews my faith in life to meet others who share my love of old treasures and to learn of their personal jouneys.

Speaking of journeys.....my daughter Erika's FIVE year milestone is in March, and I am planning something special for her. For me personally, having two cancer survivors in a one little four-person family has somehow made each second more clear, more precious, and memories more critical. Like the pieces I design that are filled with the importance of memories, stories and history, I look forward to celebrating her strength in a very special way - and yes, most likely it may include jewelry!!

Finally, my other adventure into chandelier design paid off as well and I am planning more customized designs in the new year. The one I sold last fall was a new iron frame covered with antique crystals and nugget citrine.......pictures forthcoming. The new ones (which are really OLD French ones!) will also have semi precious stones, but will incorporate some of the sterling I have collected, some of the huge collection of old keys & escutcheons I have amassed, clock parts......yes, all those *things*!! The framed 17th - 19th century Italian legal documents are at Patina now too....if only I could translate them -- perhaps I own a piece of land, or a shop....or....

My new moto/quote/mantra : "In a world of mass-produced embellishment, embrace that which has a past, a story.....a history" ~Karen Lindner

New Website!

2008-08-10T11:25:00.008-04:00

I can finally announce that I have a website! I also have my pieces in some exciting shops - those details will be forthcoming - but for now, here are some things that you can see on the website :

19C silver and gold fob on 72" hand knotted freshwater pearls

mid 19C French sterling purse frame on topaz and freshwater pearls

19C sterling match vesta on 48" freshwater pearls and topaz

I am also really excited to be venturing into the Bridal market appropriately helping embellish brides with their "something old"!....and after I meet with a boutique in Chicago in a week, I hope to have more details on that as well.....

Newest collection

2008-05-09T13:49:00.009-04:00

Here are just a few pieces from the latest collection :

long pearl strand, tripled

sterling convertible chain, shown doubled, also can be worn long

sterling, pearls, smokey topaz

   sterling, pearls, white topaz
   sapphires
   sterling, pearls, white topaz
   silk cording

I have amassed so many of these antique watch fobs that I have decided I may place them on removable bails so that they can be even more versatile. The base of the necklace can be anything - but my favorite thing to do is either place it on a very long piece, about 36"+, and end it in a toggle, or onto chain that has been made to be worn doubled - short - or singly - long. With one long piece, the necklace can be worn wrapped as many times as desired, and either have the piece attach at the toggle & wonr in front, or onto the front of the necklace itself. Keeping the overall design simple shows off the intricacy of the fobs. The base can be pearls, chain, wire-wrapped pearls, semi-precious or precious stones, cording, ribbon.....endless possibilities. The popular chunky sterling chains lend a more contemporary twist, and the limitless styles of these beautiful antiques themselves let the necklace take on various feelings as well. Some look like crests, some like stars or snowflakes, others like shields and medallions. If the cartouches on the front are unengraved, they can be if the wearer wants to personalize the piece. Beautiful!

Roman artifact pieces

2008-04-07T00:11:00.007-04:00

400AD bronze scroll with sapphire, emerald, iolite, labradorite, sodalite and sterling :

300AD bronze found piece with tourmaline :

updates from my studio

2008-04-03T12:36:00.012-04:00

I am having everything professionally photographed eventually, but for now, here are a few things completed.

Marcasite and cut steel buckle grouping on silk ribbon :

Victorian beadwork choker :

Sterling work with assorted antique finds :

Medieval pieces with emeralds, sapphires & 14k :

pretty new things

2008-03-16T22:49:00.008-04:00

Here are some pictures of the vast new groupings of silver pieces that are coming my way....and I can't wait to get my hands on them and turn them into wearable treasures!!

enchanting little german silver mesh purse....soon to become a focal part of necklace, sans mesh

lovely little repousse vesta - or match case/box - from an antique chatelaine (I have just acquired several parts to old chatelaines and love these pieces of history and the stories they would undoubtedly tell)

one of several beautiful luggage tags that I mentioned in the last post....sterling and engraved with the initials VMB....

and last but not least : a new addition to the many many antique watch fob award pieces I am collecting to put onto lovely strands of stones and pearls....and can you see the initials??? They are a K and an E......wonder if I am going to be able to part with this?!!

dream a little dream

2008-03-12T22:52:00.010-04:00

Jewelry.....new things : photo shoot for May?, new focus on "Tarnish" - possible name for a collection of vintage sterling and silver plate pieces including purse frames, liquor and luggage tags (hmm.....that's a nice suitcase that would have had a sterling luggage tag on it - !!).

And until the professionals get their hands on them, here is a peek at some pieces :

here is a late 19th Century repousse sterling purse handle with a series of reclining women, flowers, and lots of other detail, paired with nugget amethyst

this is a late 19th Century silver plate buckle with freshwater pearls, sterling chain, and chandelier crystals (yes, sometimes more is more!)

lastly, here is half of a beautiful Kerr sterling buckle, late 19th C again, with two kissing cherubs, combined with nugget iolite

Tomorrow we head back to Children's Hospital for Erika's four year check up. Hard to believe we've reached this amazing milestone...

once upon a time.....

2008-02-14T23:44:00.011-05:00

An update on the jewelry to come :

My desk is filled with beautiful things that have lead fantastic past lives....I like to say that I have had "nine lives" of careers (make up artist, theatre set & costume design, visual merchandising, interior design, and jewelry design) - and I am sure that these pieces have seen their fair share of lives as well.....some are almost 1000 years old - which is so hard for me to believe. Others are medieval, and are closer to 600 years old.....my plan is to see that they aren't put away into a dusty drawer....instead they will be paired with rubies and emeralds and sapphires that will play well upon their once-refined feeling by being combined with the stones that are not quite perfectly cut -- but rather natural, but faceted -- so almost refined themselves, but not quite. If only they could all talk.....

Bronze Roman Empire Lot - Found in Balkans - 1st - 4th Century

Tudor rose gilded belt mount - England - 15th Century

Tudor clothes hook - England - 15th Century

Yorkist royal military badge, partial gilding remains - England - 14th Century

Fancy Medieval buckle with crown detail - England - 17th Century

natural medium blue sapphire faceted rounds

natural multi colored sapphires

natural emerald faceted strand

large faceted natural rubies