Kimberly McDonald: Jewelry Curator

Kimberly McDonald: Jewelry Curator

Kimberly McDonald calls herself a jewelry curator. Having lived in Paris in her early twenties, she fell in love with the outdoor markets where she began to shop for unique pieces and honed her skills for finding unusual and fabulous jewelry. Kimberly went on to work for such jewelers as Henri Dunay and a NY based diamond brokerage firm. She began to work privately with high end clients helping them create valuable legacy jewelry collections. “My thing is finding the perfect pair of hoops that are not simply trendy but are something a client can wear for years, “explains McDonald. “I usually travel to a clients’ home, sit and talk for awhile. I get an understanding of their lifestyle. We go over their existing collection and create a wish list, usually of five to ten pieces that they have always wanted or pieces that may be missing in their collection.” McDonald, then sets out to find the items on the list. “One of the most unique requests I ever had came from a client who was watching Sex and the City. The character of Samantha had on the huge necklace which to my eyes was quite clearly fake but in my client’s eyes could happen in real life. The piece was a giant bib of pearls, all different colors, so we set out to find the pearls. It took six months to collect all of them – in fact one of the pearls had been written about in National Geographic [a freshwater Chinese peach colored pearl that was 16 to 18 millimeters] and ended up the centerpiece of the necklace.”

McDonald believes that the trend in jewelry is in semi precious and crazy colored stones. “Off the chart odd stones with diamonds will be a big thing. I also love the middle finger ring; it’s a great way to make a statement without going all gaudy and crazy.” A believer that women should wear what they own, McDonald finds that women in the Northeast are more conservative than those in the South and West. Many of her clients in Texas will wear their big jewelry on a daily basis, whereas her clients in New York are more apt to keep their collection locked away. “There is no point in owning if you are not going to wear it,” she points out.

Even a jewelry curator has her own favorite piece. McDonald loves a ring handed down to her by her great grandmother. “My great grandmother had a cocktail ring made up of a bunch of diamonds that she had collected over time. It literally looks like spilled dropped of champagne that had bubbled up; it’s not the prettiest or the fanciest but is the most unique. People go crazy over it when I wear it.”