The first cohort of apprentices-in-training are nearly halfway through the two-year, 4,000-hour pilot program.
Tiffany & Co. Donates Remarkable Pearls to RISD’s Jewelry + Metalsmithing Department
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“I dare you to take these incredible pearls and do something audacious with them,” said RISD alum Victoria Wirth Reynolds 85 JM, chief gemologist and VP of gemstone and diamond acquisition at luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. She was addressing the first class of students to take advantage of the latest chapter in RISD’s collaboration with Tiffany & Co.: enough donated pearls to support materials research for several years.
“This is such a unique opportunity for RISD students,” says Jewelry + Metalsmithing Department Head Tracy Steepy. “Vicky has been incredibly supportive of the department throughout her tenure at Tiffany—from mentoring current students and alums to setting up official internships at Tiffany, championing the Rhode Island-based apprenticeship program and facilitating this donation of pearls. The partnership is a natural fit because our institutions align on many shared values, including a focus on sustainability and long-term planetary health.”
“With this donation of pearls, Tiffany is thrilled to be able to allow RISD J+M students to dream and to be bound only by their imagination,” Reynolds adds. “Pearls are among the oldest gemstones known to humankind, and for thousands of years they have been inspiring civilizations around the world with their singular beauty, purity and rarity. Allowing RISD students to study these exceptional organic gemstones—which are true wonders of nature—will surely foster incredible jewelry and art.”
The first “Pearl LAB” course, Only with Agitation Comes Growth, was launched in early January. Reynolds and Tiffany intern William Ricci 24 JM gave a fascinating talk about how pearls are created—found only naturally from ancient times through the early 21st century—to how they are now farmed via the assistance of humankind, by culturing them in select locations around the world, with each presenting a pearl unique to the body of water in which it is created. Ricci described pearls as “gems of the sea” and took the students through a visual journey of pearl jewelry and artifacts dating back to antiquity, presenting many points of conversation and inspiration.
The course was co-taught by Associate Professor Timothy Veske-McMahon and faculty member Donna Bilak, whose research combines workbench and archive to examine the interplay of materials, culture and technology as drivers of environmental change. “We explored pearls and the pearl industry as historical, biological, cultural and aesthetic phenomena,” says Bilak. “Throughout the term, we encouraged students to weave together a creative practice, a conceptual framework around pearls that emerged from their interpretation of historical, contemporary and ecological understandings.”
“Having access to these gems through Tiffany’s generous donation allowed the students to engage fully in material research,” adds Veske-McMahon. “They experimented rigorously with pearls and related materials using methods of layering, simulation, substitution and manipulation and proposed alternative narratives that reflect contemporary ecological and social concerns.”
Senior Andy Guevara 25 JM tried crushing pearls to create an iridescent pigment similar to encaustic paint. “I started by adding crushed pearl to beeswax, but it became completely invisible,” he told the class during a midterm presentation. “Next, I tried using clear resin, but that also failed. What I’m learning is that, just like in pearl farming, temperature is key. My final project will probably involve casting silver pearls onto a composite surface.”
Fellow senior Lex Cao 25 JM focused on how both historical and present-day cases of overharvesting pearls and extractive pearl farming practices reflect structural violence in society, colonialism and the exploitation of human labor. Her project, Undercurrent, is intended as a metaphor for forces at play in the pearl industry. She created pieces for the project using 3D scanning and CNC milling.
And junior Jameson Enriquez 26 JM, whose practice explores Indigenous heritage and how we are shaped by our ancestors, viewed the pearl through the lens of Aztec mythology, as a manifestation of the ancient moon goddess Coyolxauhqui. “She represents both fragmentation and wholeness,” they explained to the class. “My final project—a piece I am designing using a geometric design inspired by spiritual artwork—is about healing the trauma of colonialism and seeing imperfections as a source of beauty.”
These personal approaches to the final assignment—just a few examples of the many issues students addressed in their work—shed light on the profound connection between people and gems, further explaining the powerful allure of the pearl.
A selection of student work produced in the course is included in the Jewelry + Metalsmithing Triennial, on view in Woods-Gerry Gallery through Feb 23. The first cohort of Tiffany & Co. apprentices to complete the customized apprenticeship program at RISD—another aspect of the partnership—will complete their studies in June, and subsequent cohorts have entered the program.
Simone Solondz / photos by Kaylee Pugliese
February 17, 2025
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