Getting Personal With Sharon Khazzam’s Bespoke Jewelry

The elegant-yet-whimiscal jewelry designer is introducing custom one-of-a-kind pieces to Barneys shoppers with Signature by Sharon Khazzam, a new series of personal consultations kicking off at Barneys' Madison Avenue Flagship.

Sharon Khazzam has always been a fan of an old-fashioned way of doing things. From sourcing her stones to the quality of a truly handmade piece of jewelry, she knows that good things take time, and she’s now extending that mantra to the way customers are able to shop for her pieces.

Known for her intense colors, carved gemstones, and polished gold settings, Khazzam is taking this emphasis on experience and shifting the way she makes and designs jewelry. Beginning this season, Khazzam will personally be meeting one-on-one with prospective clients to work with them in creating bespoke pieces that are as unique as her customers themselves in a new series called Signature by Sharon Khazzam.

“If you went to buy a piece of jewelry in the ‘40s, it would be in a salon setting where you would sit down and have a more personal experience,” Khazzam recently told The Window. “It’d be an experience you’d look forward to and savor—as opposed to running into a store, looking around, buying something that hits your eye, and leaving.”

“The whole idea for the bespoke business came from how my business has been moving toward special orders and working very closely and personally with clients,” she says. “Barneys came up with the idea to have these events where clients can come in and meet with me to have personalized pieces made specifically for each of them. It’s going back to offering something that you can’t get online or anywhere else—you have to physically be present to get this experience.”

The Signature process will be truly tailored to each person, beginning with a simple chat with Khazzam to gage what they like and are interested in. From there it’s on to the design process and—most important according to Khazzam—the selection of stones. “I have such a huge collection of stones that I’ll typically have something for whatever a client is in the mood for,” she tells us. From there, Khazzam will sketch a design and potentially even make a prototype of more complicated pieces so that clients will know exactly how their custom creation will fit.

While it may sound like that sketch is but a blip in the design process, one need only see one of Khazzam’s hand-drawn renderings to know how amazingly special and unique each is. Each is executed with precise attention to detail and sparkles with almost as much life as the pieces of jewelry themselves. The special bonus for bespoke clients is that, for every piece purchased, Khazzm will also gift the client an complementary hand-drawn sketch.

“The story that accompanies the piece is part of the experience,” she says. “It becomes more than just buying a piece of merchandise when you have a personal connection to the piece. When you pass this necklace on to the next generation, you get to say, ‘You know, I picked these stones and here’s a sketch that we did together.’ That even has more meaning than just passing on a piece of jewelry.”

The Signature by Sharon Khazzam series will kick off at Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship Saturday, September 10. Interested in working with Khazzam to create your own bespoke piece? Simply email us to make your own appointment. Throughout the month of October, the series will continue at Barneys location in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, and Chicago, where the designer will continue to meet and work with new clients, which is really the point of the project.

“Getting to personally spend time with clients is one of my favorite things,” Khazzam tells us. “The pleasure of seeing clients wear their pieces and enjoy them is really the ultimate reward.”