We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Liora Froindlikh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Liora, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

My personal touch is in every aspect of my business from collaborating with clients to create unique designs, to sitting with my CAD designers to make sure the 3D models come out perfect! I even hand deliver pieces often to my clients door. There is nothing I hate more than waiting on hold only to talk to a robot customer service agent. I love being able to connect with each client. It’s funny because I do a lot of online sales and sometimes I’ll just write a personal email to update the client on how there piece is progressing in the shop. People are always so surprised by this but I will always find the time to connect with my customers. After all it’s making jewelry that celebrates their milestones that makes this job so much fun.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Jewelry is a family business for me. I grew up in Canada in my mother’s jewelry store. I was always enchanted by gold and gemstones. As a teenager I was already the store’s in house designer really finding comfort in creating one of a kind jewelry that matched the client’s needs and desires. I also love redesigning old pieces. There is something very exciting in the challenge of taking something that is no longer loved and breathing new life into it. Sometimes we would just repurpose the diamond or gems. Other times we melt down the gold and create something completely new from it. I truly believe almost anything can be reworked and loved again. After finding my groove in the family business I decided to go to get a proper jewelry education and completed my Gemology and design degree at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Florence, Italy. Being immersed in the art and culture that is Florence was the perfect backdrop to any design education. It was truly some of the most magical years of my life.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to drop the idea that my vision or design idea has “already been done” . I think most designers sit on wonderful and creative ideas all the time, fearing that it might look to similar to some other designer or just hoping to come up with things that are totally new and that no one has ever seen but I have learned that just putting your unique touch on a piece already gives it a spin, one that is all you!

I also pride myself on really pushing to make sure I meet the expectation of every client. Custom jewelry design can be quite tricky because there is an element of surprise about how the finished piece will actually turn out. I have to balance that with the customer’s expectations and also what is materially possible in jewelry making but I am always pushing the limits of what we can do with gold and diamonds!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I really love and feel honored to work in a creative space where I have the freedom to make beautiful things. I have come a long way realizing that the longevity of jewelry makes it really important. The pieces I make are often passed to daughters, or given to mother’s and are created in celebration of life’s most precious moments – the birth of a child, engagement and marriage, birthdays, remembering loved ones and the list goes on. I have long realized that anything we do with love and passion becomes important and I truly believe that creative work and art is important. Of course the jewelry industry has it’s challenges but I am always optimistic and grateful. Jewelry is a tough business, like many other industries the internet and mass production has made it challenging to try to make jewelry locally in LA. The cost of labor and goods are higher here but for every person who wants a cheaper, amazon version of a piece there is also another who appreciates the craftsmanship of hand made jewelry. I have had to reinvent my business so many times over but what has remained consistent is that my clients know when they come to me they are going to get a unique, well made piece of jewelry and a lasting relationship.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.autographjewelery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autograph_jewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/autographjewelry