Flexible Friends: Walters Faith

This New York design duo specializes in refined classics that can be worn anywhere, any time.

Mollie Good and Stephanie Abramow first showed their Walters Faith collection at Metal & Smith in 2016, three years after launching. At a time when other designers were featuring motif-driven jewelry, their ultra-modern take on link chains, hoop earrings and other familiar classics offered a refreshing change. Today they are known for their effortless jewelry that can be worn every day.

Adding pavé diamond details and designing their pieces in all rose gold has imbued their jewelry with a chic, confident attitude that is current yet also evokes longevity. What is also interesting about the collection is that each new line is named for a member of the Bloomsbury Set.

“They were an eclectic group of English writers, philosophers and artists who met frequently in the Bloomsbury area of London in the early 20th century. Their search for truth, goodness, beauty and the questioning of accepted ideas continue to influence modern attitudes in everything from literature to feminism,” says Abramow. “We relate strongly to the concept of molding conventional ideas and forms to create something unexpected and distinctively contemporary.”

Here the dynamic duo discuss their beginnings and their path to where they are now.

Can you give us some background on the company?
Good: We founded Walters Faith in January 2013 and early next year we will be celebrating our 10-year anniversary, which is an incredible milestone for us. We both attended the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York City and our paths crossed when working for a diamond sight holder company.
We hit it off personally and professionally and talked about starting our own collection together one day. In 2012, we laid the groundwork and were able to launch Walters Faith early the following year. Our company name is derived from both of our middle names, which is symbolic of our partnership and our sensibilities merging together to create our signature style.

How did you establish your signature style?
Abramow: Our objective has always been to create a collection of versatile fine jewelry with a bold but refined aesthetic. We design our collection based on classics that are extremely wearable – pieces that you don’t have to think too much about when you are getting dressed. They are effortless and enduring, yet always with a modern and unexpected twist. To accomplish this, we look to rework basic shapes and silhouettes, like constructing link chains found in necklaces and bracelets into earrings and rings. We also use 18-karat rose gold as our signature color and material. It’s warm and feminine, complements every skin tone and looks great when mixed with other metals.

What is your inspiration?
Good: We are inspired by classical architecture and the world of modern art. We often look to simple and graphic shapes to inform our designs and challenge ourselves to reinterpret them into fresh silhouettes – like our signature elongated hexagon, for example.

Who do you see as your collectors?
Good: Women of all ages gravitate towards our collection. We attract the self-purchaser as our main collectors, but we also have women clients that buy our jewelry as a gift or special memento for other women, which we find heartwarming.
Our customers tend to build out their collections by adding more of our charms to the chains they have chosen from our line. However, we also see so many of our clients mixing our pieces with those they already own. This is another aspect to our collection that we have worked on — to create styles that can seamlessly blend in with the pieces in a customer’s wardrobe.

How does your partnership work?
Abramow: Like a marriage! We have both worked in the jewelry world for a while but have different backgrounds. I handle more of the business side of things, while Mollie’s working on the metalsmithing and designs. We play to each other’s strengths and bring different elements to the table. Yet we will always take into consideration new ideas in any facet of the company that we bring to each other.

Which are your best known and most coveted styles?
Good: Our Saxon Link, which is an elongated rounded rectangular chain, and Clive Fluted pieces, which have an architectural feel and have raised and recessed elements in the design. We offer this textural interest in stackable and wide band rings, bracelets and hoop earrings, with and without diamonds.

Our Bell Rock Crystal pieces are also quite special; we offer different shapes and hand etching into the crystal by a very talented German artisan, so that clients can personalize their pieces.

What styles are next up?
Abramow: The Bell Zodiac Collection is an 18-karat gold, rock crystal and diamond line of charms and pendant necklaces that will have each zodiac sign hand etched into a faceted piece of the rock crystal.

Our new Morrell collection will be a collection of cuff bracelets and a new link necklace and bracelet. The links are elongated and will be available in 18-karat gold, with or without diamonds and sterling silver.

Where is the jewelry manufactured and where do you source your diamonds?
Good: We are New York-based and work with jewelers locally (Manhattan), as well as abroad (Italy, Thailand and Germany). Intricate stone setting work is done in Thailand and our hand-etched rock crystal pieces are carved in Germany. As for the diamonds, we use stones that are ethically sourced in Africa, Canada and Australia.

I still design the pieces through classic pencil sketching rather than using CAD, as I find this helps establish a more physical connection with each design. We also work with clients’ own stones to do custom resets and redesigns — this part is done with our jewelers in New York.

Are there any insights you can share with start-up designers wishing to enter the fine jewelry space?
Abramov: Stay true to yourself and your style and remember nothing worthwhile happens overnight!

Main image: Mollie Good and Stephanie Abramow. Photo: Walters Faith.