As art aficionados and seasonal travelers alike converge in the scenic expanse of Aspen, jewelry designer Savannah Friedkin has found an opportune moment to discuss what keeps the Coloradan hub a thriving destination: environmental sustainability.
“It was clear to me when I was looking for my path in fine jewelry that there were very few brands, if any, that were focused on sustainability,” she told CULTURED in the magazine’s recent Aspen issue. “When a brand did claim to be focused on sustainability, their claims weren’t very transparent—or, on occasion, even consisted of misinformation.” To rectify the gap in the market, Friedkin set up her eponymous label earlier this year.
Yesterday, she joined Editor-in-Chief Sarah Harrleson, collector Melony Lewis, and arts patron Sarah Arison in welcoming an intimate group of tastemakers to sample her wares at the historic Hotel Jerome and celebrate the release of CULTURED’s Aspen supplement. Fine-jewelry aficionados and friends of the brand gathered for a midsummer afternoon fête, which featured a display of Friedkin’s carbon neutral lab-grown diamonds and certified recycled gold from her debut collections, Broken, Emergence, and SAV.
The lunch was perfectly timed with the label’s pop-up shop tour, stopping at the hotel before crossing the country to land at the Mayflower Inn and Spa in Connecticut. For yesterday’s attendees—which also boasted Aspen Art Museum CEO and Artistic Director Nicola Lees, arts patron Michelle Rubell, documentary film producer Debi Wisch, collector Rona Citrin, and more among them—a percentage of proceeds are going to the local Anderson Ranch Art Center.
The sun-soaked afternoon was set against a backdrop of Aspen’s green mountainscape as guests trickled out to the hotel’s garden, adorned with orange and pink florals. Over a menu of rigatoni and macarons, not to mention popsicles in Savannah Friedkin’s signature orange hue, business executive Hilda Ochoa Brillembourg and real estate agent Melanie Muss could be seen dishing on their summer plans. When the drinks finally ran dry, guests departed with a gift bag in hand featuring the latest from CULTURED, a bottle of Domaines Fabre wine, and a recycled notebook perfect for chronicling any upcoming warm-weather exploits, among other treats.
