Lisa Linhardt is a trained goldsmith and this skill allows her to combine the exquisite art of jewelry making with the progressive attitude of one who is both fashion-conscious and environmentally aware. She has mastered the manipulation of materials such as Palladium, an underused metal that is harder than platinum but more durable and lighter in weight then white gold. It is also far less expensive and her custom work in Palladium is sought after by jewelry enthusiasts on a budget. She also works in 10-24 karate Vermille coatings over sterling silver which has a .015 thickness. Other novel materials include the sustainably harvested nut Tagua, a natural resource imported from Columbia that carves just like Ivory. Tagua has been appearing in jewelry as well as several other forms since its first use in the 1920s as a popular ingredient for button making.
Designers aim to reveal their deepest creative passions in the work they produce, and as the fashion industry expands, so does the breadth of messages expressed by designers. For Lisa Linhardt of Linhardt Designs, the message is clear. Her dedication to supporting the environment is ever-present in her line of jewelry made with eco-friendly materials that breathe beauty as well as a firm spirit of preserving our natural world. Her boutique décor is an effort towards reducing carbon footprints – glowing globes on the ceilings were recycled from plastic planter and are suspended from retro spiral retract-o cords for an eye-catching effect. The floor is re-purposed barn wood scrapped from a former schoolhouse in Maine.
Semi-precious stones such as hematite, white jade and amethyst are also used in Linhardt designs but with one stipulation. Everything must be ethically sourced. Conflict-free precious and semi-precious stones are imported from Brazil and non-blood diamonds are imported from Canada. These gems are then transformed into alluring geometric shapes: quartz and amethyst become spherical rings that imitate delicate brown glass, onyx and hematite emerge as signature Pixel rings. Among her lines is the Bullet Ring, striking cuffs and Pebble ring series. She also showcases snake skin cuffs by jewelry designer
Ted Rossi; rings from local Brooklyn designer Matt Wood; symmetrical ethical demi parure necklace and earrings made from resin and wood by Netherlands designer,
Kyoko Hashimoto
Linhardt pieces are one-of-a-kind with creative influences from both the designer as well as the client. Lisa works with her clients to come up with new designs, and a large part of her custom work focuses on contemporary engagement and wedding band rings. Her collections are constantly raided for fashion week and have appeared in Numero Magazine (French Edition), Interior Design Magazine, Vogue Brasil, Store Adore, New York Magazine, Essence magazine (October 2008), Lucky Magazine (October 2008), Racked NYC, Coutorture and Moodboard.
Lisa’s bold creativity in melding sustainable materials with her artistic vision has given her clients a new way to wear and look at the world. Her will to make this a better place has recently extended beyond combining her two passions when Linhardt Design agreed to fully sponsor
the college education for a young Massai woman named Agnes. A percentage of
every sale goes to Agnes's education through the Kenya Education Fund.
