English majors have to stick together!

I loved the fact that Jeanne Johngren studied English literature and eventually turned into a jewelry designer, a gal after my own heart!

According to her web site, she tells stories with her jewelry, and who doesn't love a good story?

Jeanne Johngren has spent her life telling stories visually. Inspired by her travels in Europe and life seen through a cinematographer's lens, she honed an aesthetic that now brings life to her gold and gemstone creations.

After graduating from Yale University's English Literature department, Jeanne Johngren moved to Paris. She spent many hours in the Louvre and the Picasso Museum sketching the great masters' works, studied Hausmann's radiating boulevards which cut vistas through the city bringing focus to the monuments, and watched seminal films at the Art Cinema House at Trocadero. She stayed a year and then decided to pursue a career in film, combining her love of art and storytelling. She moved to New York City where she quickly rose up the ranks in the film world becoming one of the first music video producers on the scene to give a generation their MTV with artists such as Mick Jagger, The Ramones and Jeff Buckley. Johngren then discovered the art and Alchemy of making jewelry.

"As a film producer," recounts Johngren, "I always thought 'big picture.' But now the jewelry I design fills my world with a desire to uncover the story hidden in each stone.

Here are some stories for you from her Heirloom collection.


Blue Chalcedony Drop, Iolite, Peridot, Green Tourmaline, 18K Gold


Citrine, Multi-Colored Sapphire, Rhodalite Garnet, Freshwater Pearl, 18K Gold


Peridot, Vessonite, Green Tourmaline, Tsavorite Garnet, Fresh Water Pearl, 18K Gold