Having served as a stylist for years, Irish fine jewelry designer Natasha Sherling can most definitely boast of having a finely tuned sense of what kind of jewelry women want to wear both every day and for special occasions.
A Business and Economics graduate, Sherling has always been infatuated with fashion. Soon after graduating, she went on to work at one of the biggest Irish magazines, The Gloss. She spent years of styling shoots and reporting on trends from the shows, ultimately deciding she wanted to focus on jewelry full time. She moved to New York and studied at GIA, qualifying as a gemologist. Ever since she came back, she has been tirelessly working on her collections, which she has based on her inspirational philosophy: "Jewelry is very powerful and has more impact than people realize. [...] I always say to customers they should look at jewelry almost as an extension of their make-up. That's what I set out to do, to add beautiful little glint to the wearer and make jewelry part of their persona."
Contemporary with a classic twist, her collections are meant to make women look their best every day; crafted with precious gemstones and metals, they are the perfect mix of dainty pieces ideal for daily wear and statement designs suited for sophisticated cocktail looks. Sherling has also a well-deserved reputation for her bespoke pieces, which today make up the majority of her work. Designed individually with raw materials exclusively sourced for her clients, every piece is hand finished in Ireland.
Apart from designing, Sherling also provides her expertise through an advisory service to anyone reaching out to her - from clients to industry professionals: "I am often called on to source particular items - as bridesmaids' gifts, important birthdays or just hard-to-find pieces like certain vintage watches. I also help clients looking to sell or perhaps revamp pieces they already own." She works frequently with auction houses appraising collections for large jewelry sales, contributes to multiple media on any topic related to jewelry, and is a regular on television shows discussing jewelry trends.
Sherling is positively thriving in what seems to be a male-dominant world in her country. Goldsmithing has always been a fundamental part of the Irish heritage, however, most of the jewelry businesses in Ireland are run by men - who typically refrain from wearing jewelry.