For jewellery designer Bernard James – who is partnering with Dover Street Market New York on a collection to mark the store’s tenth anniversary – flora is a source of creativity, curiosity, and wonder. Inspired by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, a stone's throw from his childhood home in Crown Heights, he reimagines the beauty of daisies, hellebores, and petunias through gold and diamonds.
Although James’ work has transcended the neighbourhood – he has a presence in New York’s famed 47th St Diamond District in midtown Manhattan and a burgeoning international following of high-jewellery connoisseurs – his Brooklyn roots are never far away. Here, he speaks to Wallpaper* from his dedicated storefront in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
Bernard James x Dover Street Market New York
James says that he’s ‘super excited’ about the collaboration with Dover Street Market: ‘They have such a strong presence in New York and such an eclectic mix of brands. I think their merchandising is fantastic. And they have a very, distinct point of view.’ The new collection is emblematic of his aesthetic – featuring rings, earrings, necklaces of 14ct and 18ct gold, and diamonds that interpret a range of blossoming flora, including pavé diamond flora earrings shaped as lilies and helios.
While his aesthetic is well-defined, James says that his creative process and the decisions he makes in running his business are based on careful deliberation. ‘I sit on things for a long time,’ he admits. ‘Something pops into my head, but I've had to learn to be discerning.’ Perhaps it is this patience that has enabled him to avoid mass-producing and overproducing, he says.
The jewellery designer has a disdain for the growing industry of manufactured diamonds. ‘I'll just be very diplomatic and say, there's a use for every material,’ he says. He goes on to cite his collaboration in 2023 with the Natural Diamond Council, called ‘The Process Collection’, in which he showcased the ‘journey of natural stones’, explaining that his goal was to highlight the process of cutting a natural stone and transforming it into a finished product. ‘So, I created this middle step showing that process of cutting. I’m obsessed with natural diamonds. I love the idea of working with something that's been formed over millions of years. I think it's such a special thing.’
James has had his share of challenges breaking into the industry, and it is not lost on him that as a person of colour, in a space with both established luxury brands and multigenerational jewellery houses, it wasn’t going to be easy. ‘You sort of feel like an outsider in a lot of ways, because a lot is handed down and a lot is based on relationships.’
He shares a story of one client who attempted to refer friends but reported that they declined because they preferred a more recognisable house for fine jewellery. However, shortly afterwards, the same client returned and mentioned that someone at a party recognised one of his pieces on her and mentioned his line by name. ‘The fact that there is recognition on a different scale with the brand, and people are getting familiar with it, is really special to me,’ he says.
