(All photos + descriptions taken from Jonelle Maira Jewelry website.)
JONELLE MAIRA JEWELRY
Spotlights are a monthly to bi-monthly series of longer reviews that connect you directly to the artist/business, and to their works, which we love. Watch for Exclusives + Extras in every one!
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Jonelle Maira, Rochester native, will be famous. And so will Jonelle Maira Jewelry. Geometric designs to adorn the pages of Free People. Tribal inspired necklaces to grace the necks of celebrities. Raw and reclaimed, vintage and refurbished pieces to sell fashion magazines. Jonelle Maira Jewelry will be world renowned because…
RECLAIMED | REFURBISHED | RECYCLED
Arrowhead Earrings – $22
Vintage textured brass arrowhead, hypoallergenic gold fill ear wires
Urban Pioneer Collection
Tribal Arc Bracelet Multi – $45
Vintage Belgian sequins are mixed with vintage solid brass cube beads
Color Tribes Collection
WHO Jonelle Maira. From Webster, NY. Now living in Rochester (East Irondequoit), NY.
WHAT Wearable Art: Handmade jewelry, inspired by natural elements, using vintage materials.
WHERE Online: Website, Etsy, Online Boutiques.
WHEN Since 2003. Used to be under the name Poison Apple NYC.
WHY Stories Through Jewelry: celebrating the past lives of jewelry by creating new life, and sharing it.
HOW Shhh, It’s a Secret. Jonelley tracks contacts (think NYC) to source one-of-a-kind, quality vintage materials and pieces.
PRICE Medium. $22-$100+ for larger, more intricate jewelry.
Luck of the Brave Necklace – $36
Materials:
100% reclaimed vintage
brass chain
brass findings
brass charms
Luck & Talismans Collection
Double Arrow Earrings – $36
Materials:
Turquoise gemstones
vintage brass sticks
hypoallergenic gold fill earwires
Color Tribes Collection
Broken Arrow Earrings – $28
MATERIALS
Hematite, brass, hypoallergenic gold fill earwires
Urban Pioneer Collection
{ EXCLUSIVE Jonelle would not share all of her trade-secretes. But, I have a haunch we might be seeing Jonelle Maira Jewelry, soon, in some of our local boutiques or bazaars. Ring-fingers crossed! }
ECOFRIENDLY | HANDMADE | VINTAGE
Jonelle Maira has talent. Jonelle Maira has vision. Jonelle Maira creates cutting-edge Collections with quality craftsmanship and timelessly unique design. Jonelle Maira Jewelry is Wearable Art. (The unique engraving on the inside of my Infinite Arrowhead Ring? Only $5 when I bought it on-sale at Second Storie, this ring is reclaimed 1970’s Vintage Sarah Coventry! Find that anywhere else.) Starting at $22, no one can compete.
Balance Earrings – $50
Belgian sequins
vintage brass bullet charm and eagle
African heishi spacers
hypoallergenic gold fill ear wires
Color Tribes Collection
Speckled Quill Necklace – $65
Materials:
vintage brass chain
vintage brass tubes
dalmation jasper beads
porcupine quills
Northern Road Collection
Diamond Ladder Necklace – $110
Vintage brass curved bars
Hand wire-wrapped red obsidian jasper v-shaped beads
Lapis luzuli diamond shaped beads
Brass african trade beads
Repurposed vintage chain scraps
Northern Road Collection
BACKGROUND
Jonelle Maira (pronounced My-rah) grew up in Webster, NY. At 18, she left to attend the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Manhattan where she lived, attended school, and worked for 8 years.
Wearing her handcrafted Hamsa Earrings (Northern Road Collection ) and poised at our tiny table for 2 inside the middle of Boulder Coffee on Park, Jonelle scanned the local paintings. That’s what I used to do, she said. That was my life. Jonelle pointed to the blue, exaggerated portrait of the man with a long face. (Frank Sinatra?) Art like this. FIT, a rigorous program–to say the least–might have dried-out Jonelle’s original passion. But it infused her creativity.
WORK
From 2003 – 2011, Jonelle worked under DBA Poison Apple NYC, same jewelry line as Jonelle Maira Jewelry. While creating her line, Maira also worked for NYC jewelry designers. … We’re talking Alexia Crawford and Laila Rowe. Ironically, Maira mainly worked from a marketing perspective: photography, lookbooks, catalogs, web content. Conveniently, Maira infuses all of these skills into her own incredibly sleek website, complete with its own Lookbook. Since 2003, with jewelry in online boutiques such as Shop Lately and of course Etsy, Maira has undoubtedly established her jewelry.
Now, Jonelle Maira seeks to establish her name in the Rochester, NY scene. I found Jonelle through Second Storie Indie Market, the weekend long fair of artisans and crafts that happens ever November in Rochester, NY. I cannot wait to see more Jonelle Maira Jewelry around town and in our #shoplocal scene!
DESIGN
From sourcing materials to making trips. From selling online to updating web content. From organizing materials to making jewelry: Jonelle does it all, and Maira’s favorite piece is the design. There’s never much time for it, Maira explains. Most time gets allocated to photography and jewelry descriptions. (… Sign me up!)
The making of Jonelle Maira Jewelry fascinates me. With her pieces so beautiful, it’s hard to believe each stems from an actual, strategic, organized, process. From a production line. First, Maira creates an original sample. (Potentially those of which you see in JM Exclusives.) Next, she decides upon the steps. Finally, Maira divvies up the materials. She makes batches of each piece in stock piles large enough to fill wholesale and individual orders. The average time? About 30 minutes to 2 hours per jewelry item. Again: each earring, ring, necklace, bracelet you see are handmade by Maira, herself. This includes individual pieces. The curved arch in these earrings? Hand manipulated brass, each and every one.
Chevron Feather Bracelet – $42
Materials:
vintage brass feather and arrowhead
gold plated chain
gold plated lobster clasp closure
Urban Pioneer Collection
Black Pyramid Ring – $28
Rare & limited antique French jet glass
Superpowered modern rings
Mimicking both the allure of Eqypt and the Gothic Arch in Medieval architecture
Complex Geometry Collection
Lapis Arc Earrings – $79
Materials:
vintage brass bars
genuine lapis luzuli beads
porcupine quills
brass trade beads
hypoallergenic gold fill ear wires
Northern Road Collection
COLLECTIONS
These artful, almost spiritual, Collections realize a beautifully magical quality that intricately unites all of them while still maintaining distinct identities. Of course Maira doesn’t aim for this divinity. It just kind of happened, Maira explains of her organic process. Inspired by the natural materials she reclaims and the lives of the old she recycles, Maira creates so organically that all Jonelle Maira Jewelry breathes new life into each piece. The fragmented and discarded raw pieces Maira finds to the storybook of unified images she creates, is art. Each individual collection and The Collections as a whole speak their own stories.
{ EXTRA Follow Jonelle Maira’s DIY Blog, Design Thrift, for step-by-step instruction + detailed pics on how to make your favorite jewelry. From the hands of 1 designer to yours. }
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM | FRIEND ON FACEBOOK | SHOP ONLINE
The stories that Jonelle Maira Jewelry tells speaks for themselves. All you have to do is shop. And remember, when Jonelle Maira Jewelry is famous someday, you read it here first…
#jonellemaira
#jonellemairajewelry
#jmjewelry
#shoplocal
XO.
