David
Webb

There is no name in American fine jewelry more immediately recognizable than David Webb. His work — bold, sculptural, unapologetically dramatic — has been worn by everyone from Jacqueline Kennedy to Elizabeth Taylor, and it remains as vital today as when Webb opened his first New York atelier on 57th Street in 1948. To wear David Webb is to make a statement that needs no explanation.

Webb built a vocabulary entirely his own, drawing on ancient civilizations, African art, and the natural world. His signature enamel — vivid, glossy, applied to 18-karat gold in forms that reference Etruscan jewelry, Byzantine mosaics, and the animal kingdom — has never been successfully imitated. A single Webb bracelet can represent hundreds of hours of handwork, by artisans trained in techniques that have not changed in decades. Cayen is an authorized David Webb retailer and holds one of the most significant collections of his work outside New York.

I have loved David Webb since I was a girl — the zebra cuff on Diana Vreeland’s wrist, the bold pieces on magazine covers, on Elizabeth Taylor. So when the call came, years later, inviting me to view the collection, it was a dream I’d carried most of my life. I walked in and asked to see one piece first: a lion bracelet set with emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. One of the owners, Mark Emanuel — who, with his team, brought David Webb back to life — came toward me and said, “I have to meet the person who chose this piece as the first one to see. Nobody does that.” We understood each other at once. It all started that day.