92Y to Host Upcoming Talks with Wallace Chan, Kendra Scott

New York—This month, the 92Y Jewelry Center will begin facilitating virtual conversations with some special jewelry guests.

The center’s director, Jonathan Wahl, will host “Conversations with Contemporary Jewelers,” beginning this week.

The virtual series commences Wednesday, Feb. 10 with designer Nak Armstrong, and will run six weeks, featuring designers Alice Cicolini, Castro Smith, Judy Geib, Gabriella Kiss and Lola Brooks.

Wahl with delve into the artists’ studio practices, how they became jewelry designers and their experiences during the pandemic, plus their thoughts on jewelry as a tool for getting through it.

In addition to the Wednesday jewelry designer series, the Jewelry Center will feature some special guests in conversation with industry experts.

On Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. EST, Forbes writer Anthony De Marco will moderate “Wallace Chan: Jewelry Creator,” interviewing the designer himself.

Chan is known for his innovative approach to jewelry, with accomplishments including the patented “The Wallace Cut,” a proprietary diamond cut created in 1987, an illustrious titanium portfolio, a patented jadeite luminosity-enhancing technology, per the Jewelry Center, and recently, “The Wallace Chan Porcelain,” a material said to be five times as strong as steel.

On Tuesday, March 23 at 2 p.m. EST Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Jessica Pels will facilitate a conversation with Kendra Scott, the eponymous jewelry designer. Scott will speak on her journey as an entrepreneur, who recently stepped aside from her role as company president. She founded her costume jewelry line with only $500 in 2002, growing the company to a billion-dollar valuation since, with more than 100 stores.

Later in the spring, the 92Y Jewelry Center has planned a series of talks led by New York-based art historian Toni Greenbaum on “Modernism a la Mode: The Roots of American Studio Jewelry.”

Happening Tuesday, May 25, June 1 and June 8 at 1 p.m. EST, each session will delve into the midcentury American jewelry scene, exploring the historical, cultural and aesthetic contexts that fostered the emergence of many talented artists and designers.

The talks will explore painters and sculptors who incorporated jewelry into their practices, as well as jewelry designers.

Tickets for all of the Jewelry Center programming are available online.