A NEW ERA - Spring 2017 Perfect Wedding Magazine PWSpring2017 | Page 19

The leading jeweller started his artistic
career at a very young age, as a sculptor. It
was during this period of mastering this form
of art that he met his wife and partner in
design/business - Sybil.Together they have
developed a world of luxurious jewellery.
The defining statement that identifies David
Yurman’s brand is the iconic ‘Cable’ design.
Written by CLAUDIA TORRES
What initiated your iconic ‘Cable’ design?
I was creating new form and a friend at
a trade show told me “David, you are
making too much jewellery, you have to
stand for something. You need to be well
known for something”, she said as she
was choosing from the pieces of jew-
ellery I had at the exhibition. So I started
working on it. I had a woven metal mesh
and I had the idea to put the mesh over
hydraulic tubing, so I thought ‘if I can
find a machine that can make this, a ma-
chine that I could retrofit to use gold
strands and make tubular shapes, then I
can fabricate them’...I was sold that it
was the way to do it. We made several
pieces, and then I took wires and twisted
them. I thought it was another form we
could focus on. I was all for the mesh
and I have found the machine that could
produce it!
Then the weirdest thing happened...
there was a hurricane and two tornados
that took the roof off the factory where
these machines were, destroying them
all... then I just said, ‘I guess we will do
the Cable!’
Sybil, my wife, thought we should do the
Cable since the beginning and that it was
the form we need to focus on. Once
again, Sybil was right (laughs). She
though it was a form that has flexibility
and we could make statement bracelets
and necklaces.
What is your creative process behind
every collection?
Design is collaborative, our team stays
connected to the whole process. The
artists, all of us, the whole house is in-
volved: I direct, Sybil (my wife) critics,
some of her critics are very challenging
to change on it, some are just little
glimpses, Evan (my son) looks at the
overall process. Our process of design is
a democracy!
Photo: Patrick Demarchelier
What would you recom-
mend to a bride when
looking into getting her
bridal jewellery?
I would suggest go shop-
ping with your best friends or
your Mom. You want to go to the store,
live the experience of trying the pieces.
Consider what is your personal taste, the
look of your dress and identify what
really makes you feel it is the piece of
jewellery for you!
Your advice on marriage, how to suc-
ceed on both a personal and profes-
sional level when you work with your
spouse?
It is not easy, it really isn’t, but I can tell
you it is much more rewarding (working
and living together). It doesn’t work to
have the attitude ‘it is my way or the
highway’. It is all about balance. There is
no perfect marriage. In our experience
we like each other, we have respect for
each other. Communicate! We share our
money, everything. We share points of
view, we don’t always agree. Sharing is
important, it’s not that you are equal, it’s
about being respectful and respect your
individual moment. I learned when I
studied ‘Family in Business’, Structure is
your friend and Communication is your
best friend. Same in marriage, structure
is important. Establish rules. Communi-
cate a lot, set what the boundaries are.
We are not great for that! (He laughs…)
We overlap too much on who does
what… We give freedom to each other,
we collaborate in just about everything,
and we don’t have a clear separation.
Together we make one smart person. d
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