Harwell Godfrey Jewelry is Coming to Corte Madera

“I’m kind of a stone hoarder, so if I see something I like, even if I don’t have a plan for it, I will buy it and hold it until I find something to do with it. The stone often inspires the work,” says Lauren Harwell Godfrey, the art-director-turned-designer behind her self-titled fine jewelry line, Harwell Godfrey. After debuting at Paris Fashion Week in 2017, just four short years and several collections later, Harwell Godfrey’s exquisite creations have been touted as “heirlooms in the making” by the likes of Vogue.

Channeling an inherent eye for design into a successful ad agency career that spanned more than 15 years, she swapped creating campaigns for culinary school, followed by an externship at SPQR and stage at fabled Bar Tartine. After she did not quite find her voice in the food world, crafting sculptural fashion pieces for friends from leather and crystal later served as the creative outlet that charted Harwell Godfrey’s course as a jewelry designer. 

“The idea of making jewelry engaged me, but fine jewelry especially appealed because of the beautiful materials you get to use. So, I reached out to an old friend, Randi Molofsky (co-founder of brand development agency For Future Reference), who took me under her wing. And the rest is history,” she says. 

Lauded for maximalist style and bold color language, sacred geometry and African textile patterns are Harwell Godfrey signatures. Anchored by totem pendants and eye-catching earrings inlaid with emeralds and black onyx and studded with diamonds, the Cleopatra’s Vault collection is an elegant nod to the queen of ancient Egypt. Perhaps the ultimate symbol of feminine empowerment, crescent moon medallions delicately finished with mother-of-pearl and turquoise, among other gems, from the Valley of the Moon collection were inspired by the birth of Harwell Godfrey’s son and subsequent November 2016 supermoon. 

“For me, fine jewelry has a specific point of view that’s a little more effeminate and lovely. I think my work can reflect that, but it’s definitely got a bit more of an edge to it.” As a woman of color, Harwell Godfrey also notes that while her designs often draw influence from the African diaspora, she always puts her own interpretation on mystical motifs she finds empowering. “At the start, I looked around to see what was going on. What was being designed and what didn’t exist yet. I become my own muse sometimes, too, and design things I would want, and then I find that other people come to want them as well,” she says.