A pair of earrings Geoffrey Good made for his girlfriend, Shawna, as a fashion student in Virginia led him to discover his métier. The earrings were a success on two fronts; Shawna later becoming his wife, and they were responsible for launching a jewelry business out of his basement. A move to New York enabled Geoffrey to pursue his passion, studying jewelry at FIT, whilst Shawna a recent FIT graduate worked for such notable companies as Alexander Wang, Vena Cava and A Piece Apart. After graduating with honors, Geoffrey apprenticed for six years with master jeweler, Klaus Wisskirchen on Madison Avenue. Geoffrey was afforded the opportunity to create and restore multi million dollar pieces for companies such as Cartier, Christie’s and Sotheby’s. During this period he practiced and perfected advanced techniques, refining all aspects of his craft. Three years spent back home in Virginia was followed by a move to Brooklyn, a shared workshop on Wooster Street and time spent developing his own line. During this period he designed jewelry for The Metropolitan Museum and was a professor at FIT. Geoffrey eventually took over his former master’s business on Madison Avenue and opened a large workshop in Gowanus. Clients included Fred Leighton and Verdura. Geoffrey developed his own collection, available at Takashimaya, inspired by his childhood living in East Africa. He loves Tanzania and Coastal Kenya, the confluence of styles: Arabic, Indigenous African and European influences. The birth of his daughter and the recession instigated a move to Upstate New York in 2012. Looking for a studio, he stumbled upon a shop on Hudson’s Warren Street. The discovery was fortuitous, enabling Geoffrey to set up his workbench at the back of the shop. Customers attracted into the shop by the ‘Unusually Fine Jewelry’ sign outside, learn about the creative process and his private client work has grown to 75% of his business. Geoffrey designed the shop space, creating a background that would disappear and allow the jewelry to be the focus. A fan of minimalism and Japanese architecture, he built the furniture and then took it apart and charred it with an industrial torch in the Shou-Sugi-Ban tradition. The blackened tables accompanied by a Jason Middlebrook sculpture allow the jewelry, which is artfully encased in glass cloches and an antique cabinet, to be the main attraction.
251 Warren Street, Hudson NY
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