Rough Cut
Lena Wald
Los Angeles native Lena Wald worked as a fabric buyer with Richard Tyler for three years before starting her jewelry business. “I like anything quality,” says the 30-year-old designer about her substantial stone and precious-metal jewelry. “My designs are about simplicity and raw natural beauty.”
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What Lena Wald Likes
Turquoise and rubies. “Though I love aquamarine and clear stones that show the character of your skin.”
* Rings. “I wear as many as I can get on my fingers. The first turquoise ring I made is my favorite.” Wald discovered Tibetan turquoise at a Santa Fe jeweler’s shop. “The turquoise is deep green with a lot of matrix, which really adds character and depth to the ring.”
* Antique jewelry. Old Cartier and Lalique. “There’s a Lalique necklace with a gold enamel chain and flowers. If I had $60,000 extra, I would buy it.”
* The jewelry of the late designer Tina Chow. “She worked a lot with crystals. I feel a real affinity with the simplicity of her jewelry. There’s no need to embellish the design in order to create something beautiful.”
* “The Last Emperor,” for the fashion vibe. “The rich fabrics and attention to detail were sublime.”
Beth Orduna
“My jewelry is not about image, but about feeling: the marriage of two worlds, humble and opulent,” says 39-year-old Los Angeles designer Beth Orduna about her leather, stone and pearl pieces shown here. Says the Mexican-born Orduna, who also works in silver: “I like it undone, unraveled and unrefined. It’s more beautiful for its flaws.”
*What Beth Orduna Likes
* A really great cuff. “It can inspire an entire wardrobe.”
* Los Angeles, because it’s more casual than New York. “The way you dress up here is with jewelry.”
* Leather. “There’s something raw and primal about it.”
* Oaxacan Indian jewelry, especially handmade beads and coins mixed with motas--”colorful fuzz balls.” And big, tarnished filigreed silver hoop earrings.
* Bracelets in clusters. “You can wear a collage of your life’s experience on your wrists.”
* Local jewelry designer Hilary Beane, for her courageous style. “She drills into pearls and adds diamonds.”
* Nature’s imperfection, such as the branches of a dead tree.
