Bea Bongiasca x Wolf jewelry boxes and storage trays. Photo courtesy
Gift Guide
Storage Ideas As Stylish As Your Jewels
Designers are making boxes that reflect their aesthetic and yours
January 31, 2022—The first question many people ask me about jewelry is not about design, history or where to shop. It’s how do you store your jewelry? The answer is: I have a little bit of everything. Trinket trays host the daily items at night. A full drawer holds jewels in heavy rotation. Special occasion pieces are in deep storage. And jewelry boxes house seasonal things and items somewhere in between.
Clearly, I am not the only person in the jewelry world being asked about storage and organization ideas. I have heard Jennifer Fisher say on her wildly popular Instagram it is a question she gets all the time. Jennifer is among several jewelry designers including Bea Bongiasca, Jessica McCormack, Silvia Furmanovich and Sophie Bille Brahe who have recently put their talents into storage ideas.
Get the details on all of them below. Plus, there are a couple of extra cute things from two creatives who are not jewelry designers, but they deserve attention for imaginative storage ideas: Lisa Bayer and Woodbury & Co.
Any one of these would be the perfect Valentine’s gift for the jewelry lover in your life. Obviously, they are also a great self-purchase to show your jewelry some love
Italian sensation Bea Bongiasca brought her pop art colors and seventies sensibility to a collaboration with the esteemed box maker Wolf. The delightful collection includes jewelry trays with compartments and lids. Small, medium and large boxes are fully tricked out with little pockets, holes and dividers for your necklaces, earrings bracelets and rings.
The pieces are composed of velour and micro-suede with vegan leather details. Prices range from $120 to $770. They are available to buy online at wolf1884.com.
As part of her CB2 collaboration on home décor and kitchen items, Jennifer Fisher created some table top storage for jewelry. The marble and plexiglass materials in the designs reflect her minimalist style and provide a good-looking place to arrange the jewels you wear all the time.
The Get Organized Tabletop Storage above is on sale for $59.99.
Antique wood boxes, some jewelry and hand-made thematic needlepoint make London based designer Jessica McCormack’s jewelry boxes the most luxurious you will find anywhere. Like Jessica’s jewels, the boxes show how she beautifully reimagines historical ideas for today.
Each box has a dreamy theme in the needlework such as the Cosmos, the Ocean, the Explorer, Botanicals and Favorite Things.
Custom themes can be special ordered through Jessica McCormack. Each comes with $9,000 worth of the designer’s jewelry. The prices for the boxes start at $23,950.
Self-proclaimed trinket tray princess, Lisa Bayer lives up to her title. An artist who loves jewelry, she whips up all kinds of whimsical trinket trays with sayings like “Is Mercury In Retrograde” “I Am Speaking” and “I Am Not For Everyone.” She also has a knack for capturing popular culture moments in her work that are almost impossible to explain here. Follow along on her Instagram for all the fun.
The trays range in price from around $148 to $198. Kitson in Los Angeles has the largest inventory of Lisa’s trays online. Bergdorf Goodman, Marissa Collections and Muse x Muse also carry Lisa’s trays.
Jewelry designer Silvia Furmanovich has directly transformed the magnificent wood marquetry from her jewels into boxes. The artistic storage containers come in lots of various shapes and sizes from the large heart seen above to more traditional rectangular shapes.
Gold tone metal details the wood and a traditional velvet-lined interior can be found in many of them as well as a wood tray. The prices for the boxes start around $2,640.
Scandinavian designer Sophie Bille Brahe makes velvet jewelry boxes that capture her refined aesthetic. They emphasize delicate care and consideration of each item stored within them.
There are a few styles in her storage collection. One is a traditional rectangular jewelry box ($250). Her square ($85) and rectangular boxes ($245) are intended to hold one item. Each has a tassel attached on the corner. Magnets hold the two parts of the boxes together. All the boxes have a plush velvet exterior and satin interior.
I became aware of Woodbury & Co., a bespoke jewelry box company based in Devon, England when jewelry editor Amy Elliot told me about it. She wanted to use a quote from one of my stories on a box she was giving her mother and graciously asked for permission. I was beyond flattered to have the following stitched into the lining—“You know when you have it. A jewelry gene decorates the top of your DNA structure like a tiara.”
Woodbury & Co. was founded in 2019 by Emily Gore who made her first antique box with custom lining at her kitchen table. At press time none were available for immediate purchase, but she does take orders. The prices begin at around $200.
I suspect, however, her queue is pretty backed up. As I said at the beginning, chic storage is a hot topic.
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