{"id":26744,"date":"2024-07-03T12:58:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T07:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/?p=26744"},"modified":"2024-07-09T15:20:26","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T09:50:26","slug":"shari-cohens-journey-sealed-with-artistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/shari-cohens-journey-sealed-with-artistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Shari Cohen\u2019s Journey Sealed With Artistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

SHARI COHEN<\/strong>, Founder of Seal & Scribe, shifted from a distinguished career to embark on a new journey in jewellery design. She worked with the US Peace Corps, and later served for three-decades at International Relief and Development, but that changed when she wanted to create jewels that reflected a unique blend of her global experiences and artistic vision. Here\u2019s her inspiring story of reinvention and creativity as told to <\/em>Smitha Sadanandan.<\/em><\/p>\n

Seal & Scribe by San Diego-based Shari Cohen was started as a result of her being drawn to the \u201celegance, mystery and beauty of bygone eras.\u201d Having been captivated by antiques and heirloom jewellery since childhood, Shari became smitten after acquiring the first of many antique intaglio seals. \u201cMy great grandmother bought her own jewellery back in the 30s and 40s, at a time when women did not buy their own jewellery. Our family has always used jewellery as an expression of love, and to mark important occasions and life milestones. So, jewellery was always part of my life, growing up,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Shari Cohen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having studied fine arts at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, before joining the US Peace Corps after obtaining her Master of Fine Art (MFA), Shari shifted gears from the fine arts towards a 30-year career in International Relief and Development as a social change capacity development trainer. She served across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Island regions: her world travels sparked her fascination with how people used jewellery as adornment and to symbolise their social status.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s their calling card. On my assignments in Asia, I would see people in flashy stuff and then on my assignments to Kenya, I\u2019d see the people in beaded jewels; they have a completely different view of adornment. The colours of the beads, the thickness of the beaded collar \u2013 all signified a social standing within the tribe. It was visually quite the opposite of what women in India, or Myanmar, wore; they were bedecked in sparkling jewels.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Luckenbooth Love Token No.2 pendants. By Seal & Scribe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her life as volunteer and consultant, for over 36 years, Shari never failed to notice jewellery no matter where she went. \u201cI didn\u2019t really think too much about the jewellery until I started designing some pieces myself.\u201d She began collecting seals as a way to unwind after stressful overseas assignments.<\/p>\n

Seals were quite popular in Georgian and Victorian times, when the art of handwritten correspondence was at its best and most prevalent, explains Shari.\u00a0\u00a0Typically, intaglio seals with hand carvings and etchings were used to secure all types of hand-written communication and were made in metal, hard stones, gemstones, and glass.\u00a0Besides desk seals, smaller seals were set within fobs and hung as ballast on the other end of pocket watches.<\/p>\n

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The Strongest Can Be Afraid of Nothing Lion ring set in buttery 18-karat yellow gold. By Seal & Scribe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her first fob purchase featured a swan in beautiful chalcedony. She thought it would be nice to take away the little edgings and reframe the fob seals in a way that they became front and centre of the design. \u201cI collected a handful of them because I just liked them. I began sketching out a few ideas as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

After three years of collecting and curating a collection of antique intaglio seals, Shari started her brand in 2016. The unique artistic expression in each piece and the incredible level of craftsmanship and artistry that went into hand-carving extremely small yet delicately detailed etchings, says Shari, developed her passion for restoring each piece with a new frame. Grace Lavarro of Jewels by Grace mentored Shari into the business and agreed to list the first two prototypes on her website to see if there was interest in what Shari had proposed. \u201cGrace carried my line for the first two years, then I created my website and went out on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Choose (Love) is set in a whimsical, swirly setting of 18-karat antiqued rose gold, accented with two rose cut diamonds set Georgian-era style in a nod to the seal\u2019s heritage. By Seal & Scribe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Initially, the designer made smaller necklaces. \u201cI was a little afraid to make rings because I was new to the process. To me, making a necklace was easy\u2026it fits anyone, basically.\u201d Encouraged by her mentor-friend and clients, Shari began to work with a team of artisans. She made three rings. \u201cThose pieces were well-received, and I kept expanding my offering.\u201d With the pandemic, when her consulting job took a pause, Shari focused her time and energy into building her brand. \u201cMy custom business really took off during that time \u2013 and at a certain point, my consulting work, that had been the primary career gave way to jewellery design.\u201d<\/p>\n

She works with select craftsmen in San Diego and Los Angeles, and other cities in the US, while also seeking out specialists in Europe when needed. Her process, she elaborates, involves thoughtful curation. The pieces are brought back to the workshop where her team begins carefully and gently cleans, restores and prepares each piece for its artistic journey. \u201cOnce ready, we use mixture of traditional and modern\u00a0metalsmithing techniques to re-frame each seal into lush, hand-crafted gold and platinum settings using a combination of styles that are at once both ancient and contemporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Higher, The Tighter ring is set in 18-karat custom-blended alloy of ‘Blush’ rose gold with a Yin Yang diamond halo. By Seal & Scribe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These days, with fob intaglio becoming popular with jewellery wearers, dealers and scouts bring new and exciting fob trinkets and intaglios to Shari. Scouting for tiny treasures is her mission now and she often gets the first pick. \u201cSometimes, I\u2019ll buy online if it is something that tickles my fancy but I\u2019m trying to really not just buy indiscriminately. I try to buy with very specific purposes in mind, and it must be very high quality, it has to be a really beautiful in terms of colour or a stone,\u201d she elaborates on her favourite picks.<\/p>\n

Several of the fobs she reimagines are glass seals; some are hard stones and, occasionally, she finds a citrine or carnelian to work with. A new piece, Everlasting Love Hearts and Arrows, listed on her website features a hand-carved seal \u2013 heart and arrow \u2013 in lab-grown ruby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had an antique version in red that I made into a signet ring and many people loved it. So, I thought I\u2019d have my cutter work on a beautiful quality lab ruby and see how it goes.\u201d She has used four natural sapphire cabochon hearts as accent on the chain.<\/p>\n

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The Sans Crainte (Without Fear) pendant necklace features a regal eagle majestically soaring above the ground — a reminder to live life without fear. By Seal & Scribe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shari employs two-tone mixed metal in her hand-engraved silver pieces or hand cast silver pieces that are featured in 14-karat gold settings. Her pieces in all gold are made in 18-karat, but she makes it in 14-karat at the client\u2019s request. \u201cWe create the bulk of the ring or pendant in either yellow or rose gold, setting our diamonds in white alloys with patina to evoke the essence of Georgian-era diamond settings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her first collection did not have a name, she points out. Love Letters is the first cohesive, thematic collection Shari has presented. \u201cBefore Love Letters, I have been creating one-of-a-kind rings and necklaces in either: signet and modified signet styles (with and without diamond and precious gem side stones), Moon rings, and our Theme rings where we take an aspect of the seal and bring it into the setting design.\u201d These, she adds, were not intentional collections.<\/p>\n

The necklace series, Love Tokens and Love Shields, can be worn solo or layered. Her newest gold pendant, Sans Crainte, has an eagle majestically soaring above the ground inscribed with the motto \u2018Sans Crainte<\/em>,\u2019 a reminder to live life without fear. Made from a mould made of an antique intaglio seal in her collection, the piece is hand-cast in 18-karat gold and outlined by a halo of natural diamonds.<\/p>\n

Although Shari\u2019s world is now centred around her jewellery brand, her passion for consulting has not diminished. \u201cI am still open to consulting and if an exciting opportunity to effect social change comes up, I\u2019d love to explore it,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHARI COHEN, Founder of Seal & Scribe, shifted from a distinguished career to embark on a new journey in jewellery design. She worked with the US Peace Corps, and later served for three-decades at International Relief and Development, but that changed when she wanted to create jewels that reflected a unique blend of her global…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":26754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,104],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-26744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-features"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShari Cohen\u2019s Journey Sealed With Artistry - Solitaire magazine is a International jewellery magazine - India\u2019s leading B2B gem and jewellery magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/shari-cohens-journey-sealed-with-artistry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shari Cohen\u2019s Journey Sealed With Artistry - Solitaire magazine is a International jewellery magazine - India\u2019s leading B2B gem and jewellery magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SHARI COHEN, Founder of Seal & Scribe, shifted from a distinguished career to embark on a new journey in jewellery design. 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