Jewelry designer Bernard James grew up in Brooklyn\u2019s \u201clittle triangle,\u201d wedged between the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Brooklyn Library. As a teenager, he\u2019d escape to Soho, absorbing fashion and creative energy long before he knew he\u2019d build a brand there. His first design experiment was a high-school fashion show he produced himself while also teaching himself to sew. Jewelry came later, almost accidentally, under the mentorship of a family friend named Dennis, a retired jeweler with 40 years of production knowledge. James would bring the ideas; Dennis would show him how to make them real.<\/p>\n
That Brooklyn foundation still runs through his work. Flora, his signature collection inspired by the Botanic Garden, mixes green-gold hellebores, rose-gold petunias, white-quartz daisies, and diamonds into unisex compositions that feel both emotional and architectural.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re sourcing stones, what matters most to you?
I only work with sources that responsibly mine natural diamonds, because I think that there is such beauty to something that the earth has naturally created. I mean, you can\u2019t replicate time.<\/p>\n
Flora feels personal for you. Where did the original idea for it come from?
Flora does have such a personal inspiration, and I grew up next to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and would always go there as a kid\u2014 as I do even now \u2014 just to sort of reset, reorient, and be in nature in this crazy city.<\/p>\n
When you look at engagement rings right now, what do you hope people keep, and what do you think they should feel free to let go of?
One thing I love about how people are regarding engagement and wedding rings now is that they\u2019re not afraid to do something completely different. I do respect tradition. I love this idea of nodding to the classics. I love focusing on a center stone that is respected, that is cared for, that is, again, a symbol of love. So I would hope that that tradition remains true, but other than that, I would say: Go for it. Just do whatever you want.<\/p>\n
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