Argyle & Valentine Offers High Luxury Jewels And Artisanal Treasures In Los Angeles Showroom And Online

Presenting highly refined jewelry, hand-beaded evening purses, bejeweled capes and other treasures for a life well-lived and loved, Los Angeles jewelry designer Kathy Rose is the founder of Argyle & Valentine, a house of high luxury jewelry, fine jewels and other precious handmade goods. “Love of Nature, gemstones and other organic materials, along with respect for innovative design and technically intricate, handmade treasures are guiding principles of Argyle & Valentine,” Rose said. “My designers and I produce labor-intensive creations that we love to imagine, fabricate by hand and share via our website and by-appointment-only Los Angeles showroom, which is opening September 1, 2023.” This serene, woodsy space looks, feels and smells like a jewelry boutique in a fragrant forest glade. The showroom is illuminated by and scented with Argyle & Valentine essential oil and crushed gemstone candles. Both the Crushed Sandalwood and Citrine and Honeysuckle and Pyrite candles are housed in elegant; re-usable marble urns with matching lids.

Inspired as they are by fine artisanal adornments and traditions from various world cultures, “Everyone associated with Argyle & Valentine,” Rose stated, “aims to make 21^st century luxuries that will last into the next. I also carry an important selection of European antique jewelry,” she continued. “So many jewelry lovers, including myself, find comfort in wearing the presence of the past. This is our way of connecting to and respecting the past, present and future.”

The next few months, Rose promised, are going to be filled with covetable and collectible, one-off designs. For example, “Handmade, stainless steel mesh chest bibs are coming from Hushidar Mortezaie, along with bags from Chloe Trujillo, floral clothing designs from Sunchild and refined robes from Aurora Sage. Full-length couture gowns from Emile Gampe,” she related, “feature graceful necklines and open plunging backs, creating a compelling canvas for jewels from Argyle & Valentine designers.”

The labor–intensive, slow luxury goods and limited edition philosophy of this brand is a natural outgrowth of Rose’s decades as a Los Angeles boutique owner and jewelry designer who has showcased other top tier jewelry, accessory and clothing designers. While she’s been working with goldsmith K. Brunini and jewelry designers Stormie and Karma El Khalil for 20 years, “I’ve also been representing New Delhi-based jewelry designer Hanut Singh for over a decade,” Rose recounted. “All of us have creatively evolved together over the years and now we’re onto the next adventure with Argyle & Valentine.”

And what an adventure it is: Rose is debuting new variations on her hand-carved eagle rings, set with luscious orange and canary yellow diamonds. Her platinum Rattlesnake button earrings are centered with a round brilliant-cut diamond and hand-cut diamond baguettes; these total three carats in all. Rose’s Rattlesnake cuffs are now available with hand-cut emeralds or rubies in addition to diamonds. European antique jewelry, such as a fully articulated and flexible high-karat gold Victorian snake bracelet, glittering with emeralds and coruscating diamonds, are also part of the stylistic mix.

Doses of high luxury jewelry style at fine jewelry prices come in elegant sterling silver statement pieces from Acid Queen. “Everything this designer makes is an artistic success,” Rose said. “Her chest shield pendant necklaces are embedded with lapis lazuli and have a timeless treasure look that is also gender-fluid.” One of Argyle & Valentine’s most intriguing collaborations features One Moon Cashmere’s jewel-toned cashmere capes designed by Tara Kohlberg, which have been intricately ornamented by Native American jeweler Stormie with hand-sewn, 19^th century steel beads and Venetian trading beads.

Argyle & Valentine is the sole U.S. representative for London-based jewelry brand Ourobouros. “This brand produces jewels of unforgettable beauty and erotic intrigue,” Rose commented. One-of-a-kind, beaded Southwestern-colored clutches by Dagmar Zaragoza are refined enough to wear on the red carpet, and subtle enough to wear around town during the day. While gemstone beads, trade beads and hand-carved charms bearing life-affirming symbols characterize Jes Maharry designs, the interiors of her hand-carved 18-karat yellow gold bracelets and other jewels are inscribed with positive musings that imbue her designs, and the wearer, with poetic power. While the hand-carved and boldly gemstone-set creations by master jeweler Angela Kroeger of House of RAVN are alive with sensuous silhouettes and classic beauty, they also appeal to both genders. In September, Rose observed, “House of RAVN will be debuting its platinum and diamond collection on our website and in our showroom.”

The eclectic connoisseurship of Rose’s vision makes the Argyle & Valentine website and private showroom important destinations for lovers of rare contemporary, bespoke and antique jewels, plus luxury lifestyle accessories. A quick tour through the Argyle & Valentine.com readily indicates that in terms of artisanal design, precious materials, and rarity, this house offers an unparalleled selection of 21^st century treasures, including bespoke jewelry that can be designed online with Rose in person or via Zoom. (She caters to custom design clients throughout the U.S., Europe, U.K. and the Middle East.) Even if you never studied applied art history, it’s crystal clear that Rose and Argyle & Valentine are offering rare, impeccably well-made, and thus arguably more collectible alternatives to mass-produced designs. Indeed, Rose’s enterprise is one of the few cosmopolitan luxury boutiques that embodies the artistic and humanistic ideals and products that powered the Arts and Crafts movement.

Flourishing form around 1860 to 1920 in the British Isles, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Arts and Crafts movement was fueled by a vocal minority of applied artists protesting the banal depths to which style, artisanship, quality of goods and popular taste had sunk in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Led by England’s William Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement held such core values as integrity of artisanal design, respect for materials and master artisanship. Like Arts and Crafts movement designers and makers, Argyle & Valentine artisans also believe in the absolute necessity and utility of aesthetic beauty plus the soul-satisfying, emotionally nourishing experiences that lovingly handmade jewels and other luxury goods give to humans of all ages.

Irrepressibly creative, Rose lives her life like a work of art and looks like one, too. While her ears often glitter with a constellation of tiny diamond studs and mini gold hoops, Rose lives her life looking harmoniously bejeweled rather than overloaded. “I have 21 piercings,” Rose confessed. “I go for piercings to Brian Keith Thompson of Body Electric Tattoo, in West Hollywood, because he’s a master at placement.” Rose is also featured in Angela LoMenzo’s recently published book, “Wisdom of Wildly Creative Women,” for which she wrote the foreword. While she’s too modest to draw any parallels between Argyle & Valentine and applied arts movements of the past, Rose admitted, “I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some of the most accomplished independent jewelry designers, goldsmiths and fashion designers of our time. Decades of experience inform what I’m doing today, and years from now, I hope to still be working with these creators.”