If you were walking down West Broadway in SoHo in 1990, you might have noticed a guy selling silver-wrapped crystal jewelry from a TV tray. This was a young Ron Anderson, who not long after these humble sidewalk sales would team up with David Rees and launch Ten Thousand Things, a jewelry brand that quickly became known for its jaunty, fiercely abstract designs.
Early on, their work was all about stones, reveling in unusual minerals like paraíba tourmalines, black opals, and American natural pearls. A quiet flashiness—not an oxymoron!—defined pieces whose lightness rivaled that of a Calder sculpture. So perhaps it was not surprising that luminaries began to notice these delicate works of art: Kate Moss flashed an earful of pearls in an infamous Calvin Klein Obsession ad; Susan Sarandon and Keri Russell became fans; Julianne Moore, a friend of the house, continues to be enamored. And who could blame them? Where else could you find humongous mother-of-pearl chandelier earrings, glorious shimmering blobs that move and sway with the wearer? (I sat across from these recently at a dinner in Paris and can attest to their seductive power.)