S. Bernhardt long necklace with woven bronze pendant
“
I definitely focus on art jewelry. Mine will never be a mass commodity jewelry product. I’m definitely a small-batch artisan.
A. Boleyn double wrap bracelet
And that is where Nashville jewelry designer Tony Perrin, of Lock and Key, comes into the story, for he worked for Ralph Lauren in New York City. “Ralph’s a little Jewish man from the Bronx, and I happen to be a little Jewish-Italian man from Los Angeles,” Perrin says of their similarities. “Working for him was really an amazing learning process for me. It’s marketing genius really, creating those dreams. And I really love the art of storytelling.” Perrin helped rig Ralph Lauren’s “creative war room” with props and illustrations so that the famous designer was inspired to create a new collection. “He would have to be able to walk in and see ‘the movie’,” Perrin says. Born in Southern California, Perrin attended New York University as well as the Fashion Institute of Technology, also in New York City. He has a steamer trunk of talents; he
Stacked HA Woodruff bands
has worked professionally in dance, fashion design, textile design, costume production, yoga instruction, and college lecturing. But now Perrin is focused on promoting the handmade artisan jewelry of his line, Lock and Key, which celebrates his love of storytelling that emerged at Ralph Lauren. His designs have an organic and sculptural nature, which he creates by merging techniques such as Native American beading and the classic ball-and-chain methods. “It gives it its own voice and makes it more modern and slightly industrial,” Perrin says. Materials include Japanese seed beads, semiprecious pieces, and sculptural pendants made of solid bronze and sterling silver. Perrin’s muses are performers, dancers, or intriguing people. Individual jewelry styles are inspired by such luminaries as
NASHVILLEARTS.COM
63