Jewelry designer Sharon Khazzam loves a good story.
In a well-lit corner of Barneys, she points to an asymmetrical engagement ring encased in glass and reveals she named it after Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, Josephine. Khazzam explains she was inspired by the inverted pear-shaped diamond setting.
“There’s romance to every piece of jewelry,” she says.
It’s her passion for illustrious treasures that earned Khazzam a spot in the American Society of Jewelry Historians just last year. But while her pieces may pay homage to the past, Khazzam’s originality makes her modern designs heirlooms for the next generation.
In her Great Neck, NY, studio, the designer draws and paints her one-of-a-kind pieces in craftsmanlike detail, selecting vibrant gemstones for baubles that make for colorful mosaics.
Khazzam follows moods, not trends, and she’s willing to experiment, which is surprising considering her traditional background.
After earning a degree in jewelry design from FIT in 1984, the Iranian-born blonde was hired as the sole in-house designer at Asprey, the centuries-old company known to supply glitzy crowns and scepters to royalty. By 1993, she was creating pieces for private clients and consulting for companies like Barneys.
Her partnership with the luxury retailer induced the launch of an eponymous label in 2001, which they’ve exclusively sold ever since.
And Khazzam credits Barneys for allowing her to develop her meticulous craft outside of the status quo.
“When you’re a new designer, you’re afraid to take risks,” she admits. “[Barneys] helped me find the courage to do things that aren’t traditionally done in fine jewelry.”
Things like her signature quirk — setting beach-found seashells among the precious stones of five-figure pieces.
Khazzam quips: “So I don’t lose my sense of humor.”