When I met Julia Szendrei two years ago, my first impression was that she had great style. Her demeanor is calm yet vibrant, down-to-earth yet adventurous. Her boho and sometimes minimalist aesthetic pairs perfectly with whatever jewelry she’s wearing, whether it’s her own personally crafted earrings, necklaces, rings or bracelets or not.
“I believe you can change the way you feel and how people perceive you based on what kind of stone you wear.” –Julia Szendrei
She was born in Nantucket, Mass., where she believes was the perfect place to unleash her creative spirit. She began painting when she was a little girl, playing with watercolors then oil and acrylic. In high school, Szendrei earned an internship for a ceramics program and the positive experience set the stage for her to pursue various art forms.
She also remembers when she was a teenager going over to her “mystical and wild” best friend Sophie’s house, who inspired her to make jewelry for their friends’ moms. It showed her the power of gift giving. Szendrei then earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Bridgewater State University, where she was drawn to painting and screen-printing.
In the spring of 2006, Szendrei packed up her bags and spent a semester out on the West Coast at California State University at Humboldt. It was there she became familiar with California and was still close to an ocean. A few years later, she met her husband Clayton Humphries and together they moved to San Francisco. She was working on making new and unique jewelry most of time and found out about the San Francisco Gem & Mineral Society.
Through the society, Szendrei learned how to cut gemstones and lapidary (the work involved in engraving, cutting or polishing). Her imagination ran wild with the vibrant and powerful colors portrayed in all kinds of natural, interesting jewels. She was doing a lot of drusy jewelry (coating crystals on other stones) and ran a blog called Daily San Franciscan, in which she wrote about some of her other favorite local artists, jewelry makers and businesses. She made great connections as she learned how to facet engagement rings, experimented with chakras/rainbow-style bracelets and necklaces, and played with beadwork. Szendrei is passionate about the color spectrum and how wearing vibrant gems set in a distinctive way brings out the best in people.
“Gemstones are this powerhouse of cosmic energy, connected to us and the Earth in so many ways. There’s a universe of information out there on that but I believe you can change the way you feel and how people perceive you based on what kind of stone you wear,” she says.
For instance, wearing yellow denotes positive and cheerful feelings, while green can generate practicality and helpfulness.
As I talk to her, she is packing up jewelry orders, just one of the many hats she wears in her business life. Her best friend Heather LeFortune, based in Marfa, Texas, joined the team as one of her makers; together they continue to create unique, small-batch jewelry collections.
Finding stones that are ethically sourced is important to Szendrei; her gems need to be validated as a safe production where 100 percent of the payment goes directly to the family-owned gemstone wholesalers.
“My goal is to create affordable pieces that are of the best quality,” she says. “It’s really important for me to know where my stones are coming from.”
To create her fine wearable artwork, Szendrei finds inspiration in whatever’s going on around her at home or while traveling, in observing the changing seasons in the mountains and lake around her. Her first step is to research and flesh out her ideas.
“I get intrigued by how to make something different, then I think of stones that match the concept I have,” Szendrei says.
It then takes her a few weeks to custom create her pieces and cut stones; she spends some time hanging out with them, thinking about various ways to wear them.
“I invest in this, and it looks good, but the gems do all the work,” she says.
The four natural elements also play a big role in how she creates her collections.
“Look at the main elements: fire, water, earth and air,” she says. “We have them all up here. It’s surrounding us. And growing up by the ocean, that’s my backbone. They’re all connected and it’s all about how it translates through the jewelry.”
Julia Szendrei Jewelry can be found on her web site and she’s offering Tahoe Weekly readers a 30 percent discount off anything in her current collection by using the code TW30 at checkout. | juliaszendrei.com
