Soraya SILCHENSTEDT

SORAYA SILCHENSTEDT IN NEW YORK, APRIL 2013. DRESS: DONNA KARAN. ALL JEWELRY: SORAYA SILCHENSTEDT. STYLING BY JESSICA MYCOCK.

For Soraya Silchenstedt, design is dictated by the details. “I naturally make things that are delicate and refined,” she says. Imbued with an understated, wearable luxury, Silchenstedt’s spare pieces update the notion of the heirloom piece. “It’s not fashion jewelry,” she asserts. “You wear it all the time-you sleep with it, you travel with it.” Raised in Westchester County, New York, Silchenstedt-who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology-received her real education at a workbench in Manhattan’s Diamond District, where she witnessed firsthand how to sculpt metal and set stones as an estate jeweler’s apprentice. In 2005, she launched Finn with business partner Candice Pool. The whimsical, charm-accented line was soon picked up by Barney’s, snagged Silchenstedt a nomination for the 2011 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and launched a diffusion line, Minor Obsessions. But after splitting with Finn in January, the 34-year-old Silchenstedt is now moving forward with an eponymous line. “The pieces are more intimate and delicate,” she says. “A little more mature.” Crafted in 18-karat white and yellow golds with white and black diamonds and precious colored stones, the collection eschews obvious trends and instead conforms to the style of the woman who wears it. “It’s a younger feeling for fine jewelry,” she explains. “You’ll see the stuff that your mom has, or classic designs, but it’s my interpretation. It has a little more edge.”

COSMETICS: CK ONE COLOR COSMETICS, INCLUDING 3-IN-1 FACE MAKEUP AND PURE SHINE LIPSTICK IN ALARM, BLOW, AND NAKED; ORLY NAIL PRODUCTS, INCLUDING GLOW. HAIR PRODUCTS: LEONOR GREYL, INCLUDING HUILE DE PALME. HAIR: TAMARA McNAUGHTON FOR LEONOR GREYL/HOME AGENCY. MAKEUP: KRISTI MATAMOROS FOR CK ONE COLOR COSMETICS/KATE RYAN INC. MANICURE: JACKIE SAULSBERY FOR ORLY/KRAMER + KRAMER. PROP STYLING: ABBY WALTON/WALL GROUP. MANICURE ASSISTANT: ARLENE HINCKSON. SPECIAL THANKS: LOFT 402.

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