“I really wanted to bring the ocean, the cliffs, the hillside, and the wonderful blues and rust colors into the pieces,” said Samantha Goldstone of her latest jewelry collection, which was inspired by her travels along California’s Big Sur coastline.
Goldstone is the founder and chief designer of Adesso, a successful handmade-jewelry business based in Santa Barbara. Ideas for her creations often come from her travels; her last collection, Totem, is based on her visits to New Mexico and features colors, textures, and techniques found in the American Southwest.
“I think a big part of Adesso is inspiration through travel and the experiences that come along with that, like food, art, style, and culture. We are about using global creativity in a way that works in your daily life,” Goldstone said, “I want to create jewelry people can work into their own style but can still feel where the inspiration has come from.”
As a child, Goldstone was fascinated by her grandmother’s costume jewelry and began making baubles at an early age. What started as a childhood hobby eventually turned into a successful career — Adesso, which means “now” or “in the moment” in Italian, has been featured in Seventeen, People, and O magazines.
The logical next step for the company, said Goldstone, is a retail store in town to show her wares. “Opening a store is always something that I wanted to do, and it’s the next step in developing the progression of the brand,” she said. To that end, Goldstone has secured a brick-and-mortar space on upper De la Vina Street, the grand opening of which will be held this week. “I think in addition to the jewelry that we design for men and women, the storefront will also be a place where we could develop the lifestyle vision of the brand more.”
A young adult cancer survivor, Goldstone is committed to helping others going through life-threatening illnesses. Goldstone donates both time and money to the Dream Foundation, the first and largest nationwide wish-granting organization for adults fighting life-threatening illnesses. As such, 15 percent of the proceeds from sales at the event will go to the Dream Foundation. —Yishian Yao
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Adesso’s grand opening is Thursday, September 13, 2-8 p.m., 1209 De la Vina Street. For more information, visit adessoshop.com.