100 Most Influential People in Fashion

Fashion Influential #86: David Yurman

Another Magazine & David Yurman Host A Private Dinner To Celebrate Issue 11

(L-R) Evan Yurman, David Yurman and Sybil Yurman attend Another Magazine & David Yurman's private dinner to celebrate Issue 11 on September 12, 2006 in New York City. (Getty Images)more pics »
DAVID YURMAN
Born:
October 12, 1942 in New York
Famous Collections:
Cable Heart, Confetti, Jewel Bead, Signature Oval, Woven Cable
Fans:
MaryKate and Ashley Olsen, Renee Zellweger, Rihanna, Sienna Miller, Kate Hudson, Kate Moss, Brad Pitt, Nick Jonas, Kate Bosworth, Naomi Watts
Beginnings.
David Yurman's love of sculpture was inspired by Cuban sculptor who taught Yurman how to weld when he was still in high school. A few years later, Yurman dropped out of New York University to pursue a career in sculpting, apprenticing under several famous sculptors. When, in 1969, he met artist Sybil Kleinrock at a fellow sculptor's studio, he began crafting sculptural jewelry as gifts for her. He began selling his pieces at his soon-to-be-wife's insistence and, in 1979, founded the David Yurman jewelry firm.

Career Highs.
Yurman became a household name in the 1980s, when he began experimenting with cable-like shapes. Using an automotive cable-winding machine, he designed a bracelet of twisted silver ropes that quickly became a much-desired piece, setting imitators scrambling to copy. Now his designs are favorited by both the fashion and Hollywood elite.
I believe jewelry is more of a movement right now and we're part of it.
- son Evan Yurman of David Yurman Inc.

Yurman designed his first pieces of jewelry for his wife, Sybil.
Career Lows.
Yurman hasn't had many stumbles on his path to success. Earlier this year Yurman announced that there will soon be David Yurman sunglasses, which Sybil Yurman describes as "jewelry for your eyes." We'll see whether uber-pricey fine-metal accented sunglasses ($392-1100) hold up in the current economic climate.

Legacy.
David Yurman is the biggest living brand name in jewelry. He has popularized jewelry for men (Brad Pitt and Nick Jonas have both been spotted wearing his rings), and brought to modern jewelry design a sculptural, almost architectural approach that will likely remain current for many more decades to come.

Brad Pitt often wears a Yurman ring made of dinosaur bone.

Get the Look.
David Yurman jewelry is quite expensive, but his work is so popular there are few jewelry makers who haven't offered their own twist on his work. For a signature Yurman piece, find something inspired by his cable-lock bracelet in sterling silver.

- Alicia