Design Flash: JPG Ltd.

One of the first (and friendliest) people I met when I moved to Charleston was jewelry artist Janet Porcher Gregg, who moved from Manhattan to the Holy City years ago.

We had our first dinner together with several of her close friends, around a big round table in her antebellum cottage down on the Battery. It was a warm welcome to an unfamiliar city, and the entire time I was completely mesmerized by her house. Janet's ability to layer color, pattern, and texture was dumbfounding. She even hand painted the walls in a strie motif (a really chic blurred stripe pattern) herself! Janet learned from the best, working for New York interior designer Charlotte Moss in the big city before moving south.

So it's no surprise that her jewelry collection is just as fresh and classic as her house.

Here are a few of my favorites from the line:

1) Her gold belt buckles. I like this one best because of the unconventional shape, and I've got a great vintage brown suede belt it would look killer with.

2) This architectural cuff. When I look at this piece, it reminds me of something from nature: wheat shafts, marsh grass, or a maybe even a curl of birch bark. It's a very pretty organic statement, whatever the inspiration.

3) These turquoise and gold hoops. I'm partial to these because most of Janet's work is done  in gold and silver and this design offers a bright burst of summery, Charleston blue.

I'm planning a trip to see what Janet has been up to in her downtown studio soon, but in the meantime, I'm curious about other southern jewelry designers making beautiful things in small batches. Any fun suggestions?