AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DESIGNER: JILL GOLDEN

You’ve created a website and business combining two seemingly unrelated interests – jewelry and travel, why?

I think Creativity, and in my case Jewelry Design, is inspired by passion. I am obsessed with exploring other countries and cultures, and it is through my travels I am inspired to create beautiful things.  

Let’s discuss your inspiration, what things inspire you?
Color, visiting new places –  near and far, seeing other people achieve their dreams, beautiful textiles.

What was your first passport stamp?
Jerusalem when I was 17, the summer after highschool.

What are your top 5 favorite destinations?
In no particular order: Paris, northern “up north” Michigan, Italy, Fez, Buenos Aires

What are the next 5 places you would like to travel to?
Rwanda and other parts of Africa, London, Surf Camp in Costa Rica, Berlin, Siwa

What’s your most useful travel tip?
Even if you don’t speak the language, a smile and good manners translates across every language! Try and find someone who knows someone who lives where you are going – there is no advice like that of a local. Oh, and pack dryer sheets in your suitcase – they eliminate that airplane odor.

What’s your favorite travel website?
Tripadvisor.com, tablethotels.com, wmagazine.com, nytimes.com

What can’t you leave home without?
The list is long, as hard as I try I have not mastered the travel light concept: iPad, iPod (sometimes 2 depending on the flight distance vs battery life), Bose noise cancellation headphones, cashmere blanket, water, rosebud salve & Biotherm Biomains hand lotion, books, soduku puzzles…and that’s just for the airplane!

So, when did you start making jewelry?
Actually, I sold my first “jeweled” item when I was 9 – beaded barrettes to the trendy tween store in my hometown. My whole life I have been creative and crafty but as an adult my first professional jewelry job was in marketing for Cartier. A few years later I started designing jewelry – making myself earrings and necklaces and then friends, colleagues and strangers started asking to purchase my designs…so while on a jury duty lunch break in downtown nyc, I stopped by the county clerks office and established Flutter. I officially “launched” the business in Fall 2008.

What do you consider luxury?
Luxury is inspiration and aspiration. Luxury makes you feel good, both physically and emotionally. A luxury doesn’t have to be a thing, it could be an experience like a fantastic voyage, but we often find things luxurious because they help us feel better, look better, live better, love better…..

OK, so tell us some of your life’s luxuries?
To me, the ultimate luxury is travel…sometimes in the form of a 5 star hotel, a day reading a book under a tree, exploring a flea market where no one speaks English, having a glass of wine with lunch, eating an ice-cream in the hot sun, discovering a new artist or photographer in a little gallery, discovering new designers in tiny boutiques. If I can use this, travel, as inspiration to create a beautiful piece of jewelry that can evoke this feeling of a luxurious moment, then I’ve succeeded.

What about favorite things?
They change all the time as I discover new things but here are today’s:
Music on your iPod: Adele, Lily Allen, Florence and the Machine
Website: Nytimes.com
Shoes: Vivienne Westwood Pirate boots (vintage), Golden Goose boots
Designer: Isabel Marant
Bag you covet: PS1, Jerome Dreyfuss
Mascara: Lancôme Hypnose
Hair product: Kerastase Oleo Relax
Perfume: Trish McEvoy #9

OK, they say home is where the heart is, tell us about your home:
My home is New York City.

I’ve lived in NYC since: I moved here on a bit of a whim after college – many years later I still call it home.

I live here because: There is something new to see or learn every day, I am inspired by the people I meet – there is no single definition of a “New Yorker”.

My neighborhood: I live on the Eastern edge of the West Village – 1 block in any direction is filled with a different spirit and wonderful boutiques and restaurants.

My favorite restaurant: is different every day, dining out is entertainment and I love to try new places all the time.

Some recent faves include: Aria, Meme, Kawa

My favorite museum:
Cooper Hewitt, National Design museum, The Costume Institute at the Met and Brooklyn Museum

My favorite shops: Barneys NY, Gargyle, Albertine, Stuart & Wright
I get around nyc: Walking or on the Subway (use hopstop.com).