Design: Anthony Roxas Architects // Installer: Woznak Construction // Photography: Margaret Austin Photography
As someone who designs jewelry for a living, it should come as no surprise that Ariel Gordon Maffei’s new Berkeley office space features two jewel box-like bathrooms adorned floor to ceiling in near-shimmering handcrafted tile.
We chatted with Ariel about the journey and inspiration behind Ariel Gordon Jewelry’s gorgeous new space, which also includes a Block Shop x Fireclay Handpainted Tile backsplash, and her longstanding desire to work with our “gorgeous, juicy tiles.” Keep reading for the full interview!
Meet Ariel:
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your company?
My name is Ariel Gordon Maffei and I’m the CEO / Founder / Designer of Ariel Gordon Jewelry. I founded AGJ in 2009 from my dining room in my Santa Monica apartment. Pretty quickly I graduated to a studio in the downtown LA jewelry district and remained there until 2022 when my office operations relocated to the Bay Area. While the lion’s share of our production remains (and will always remain) with our team of skilled artisans in L.A., our showroom and our internal staff (customer service, e-commerce, order fulfillment, wholesale, product development, and a new in-house jeweler!, etc.) have joined me in Berkeley. For the first time I’m also so thrilled that I have space to have an in-house jeweler and private showroom!!
For those of you who don’t know, 6 years ago my family moved to the Bay Area for my husband’s work and to be closer to family. The AGJ team remained in L.A. and I traveled back and forth. A lot. Sometimes twice in one week / 35+ times a year / often with a baby on my hip. Then Covid hit and there were almost 2 years when I didn’t see my team at all. Slowing down during quarantine gave me a moment to pause and allowed for some clarity. Those logistics weren’t sustainable for the company or for me, and I realized I had the power to shift them. So I shifted. I found this amazing building in Berkeley and built it out to meet our needs and I zeroed in on an amazing new team. The space is an extension of me and the brand and holds so much potential for where I see it growing.
When did you first become interested in design? How did you get your start in making jewelry?
My first job out of college was for a marketing firm founded by Caroline Graham who is a titan in the magazine world. She was the West Coast editor of Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Talk Magazine under Tina Brown. She taught me so much about marketing, PR, event production, proper etiquette, and so much more.
Tile: Signal in Clay Motif
After that I worked in entertainment PR for a few years before I decided to pivot towards jewelry. What began as a hobby quickly turned into a passion. I went back to school to learn jewelry fabrication, metalsmithing, and stone setting. From there, I started soldering pieces and carving waxes from my dining room table in my Santa Monica apartment. Simultaneously I worked with Maya Brenner for 6 years, where I learned the ins and outs of the business side of things.
Humble beginnings to say the least, but slow and steady, it gave me the experience I needed to match my passion for jewelry design with my need to create a profitable and sustainable business. Having a strong PR and marketing background really helped build the brand from the ground up.
Can you tell me about your design process? What is your favorite part? Where do you draw inspiration from?
I’m constantly scribbling in my notebook little ideas all year round. If I see a satin cord I like or a chain that has a nice proportion, I’ll always snag it and file it away. But I actually try to turn everything off and shut everything out when I'm designing. I feel like I need to turn the static of the world down to really clear my head and design. I design a new collection twice a year and each time I go into hibernation mode to get it done.
I am inspired by my girlfriends and the everyday girls that I see on the street or around town who manage to look casual, elegant, and chic without fashion closets or stylists to help them out. They are confident women who have their own sense of style while living on a real budget. They work, they are moms, they date, they travel. Necessity leads them to be creative and versatile.
How has your work affected your interior design style? How would you describe your aesthetic?
I’m certainly not an interior designer but I have so much fun conceptualizing a space - designing furniture, picking out wallpaper, sourcing fixtures, and making it my own. I’m not afraid of making bold choices, so it is super rewarding to see it all come together.
Tile: 3x3 Painted Sky
I’d say my interior design aesthetic is bright and refined but not too serious. As much as I aspire towards minimalism, I love surrounding myself with the patterns and treasures I collect. I feel like my personality comes through – happy, playful, a little traditional, sort of whacky, cozy, functional.
I love to travel and I have trinkets I’ve picked up along the way that I’ve incorporated in to my surroundings – a giant room diffuser from Coqui Coqui in Tulum, a porcelain happy Buddha from Beijing, art from Tokyo, beautiful pottery from Paris, shell lei from Kauai, throw pillows from New York.
Let's talk about your new headquarters! What were the goals for this space? What sort of look were you going for?
When you start a business from your apartment living room, signing a lease on an official office is a big step. I've been lucky enough to have out grown my space 3 times. This time around, I wanted to find a forever location that could grow with me and my team.
I envisioned the studio serving multiple purposes - an office, a showroom, an event space. Having a proper place to meet with buyers, couples shopping for engagement rings, press, stylists, and clients was the goal but I wanted it to feel like a rad living room where you could gather and hang out.
Tile: Signal in Clay Motif
When we first discovered our new offices in Berkeley, I knew I'd found something special, but I also knew it needed a lot of TLC to be transformed from the old contractor's office that it was to the chic jewelry studio and showroom that I'd always dreamed of for AGJ.
How did you come up with the color palette?
The building is a big industrial box so I decided to keep the bones neutral (white walls / ceilings + epoxy silver floors) and then I layered in color and personality with the furnishing, fixtures, fabric, decor, and tile.
There is also a bright and happy courtyard outside and I have so much fun tending to the garden and my little fish pond out there.
Tile: 3x3 Limon with 3" Hexagon Hunter Green
What made you choose bold colors for both bathrooms?
For the bathrooms, because they are commercial (and I wanted the fixtures and furnishings to be minimal for sanitary reasons)...I always envisioned tiling all four walls floor to ceiling with a contrasting tile floor for a dramatic effect. I wanted the bathrooms to be the pops of color in this big white box.
Tile: 3x3 Limon with 3" Hexagon Hunter Green
I loved mixing the two different colors (Painted Sky with Lake Tahoe Matte and Limon with Hunter Green) + two different shapes with similar proportion (3" squares on the walls and 3" hex on floors) to keep things from feeling too serious. Throw in some Brass fixtures and chic lighting. Done!
Tile: 3x3 Painted Sky with 3" Hexagon Lake Tahoe Matte
How about the handpainted Block Shop tile for the kitchen?
I'm forever fangirling over the LA doyenne sisters extraordinaire that make up Block Shop. Wherever they go, I'm happy to follow (sidenote - I recently went to Jaipur for the first time and they gave me the best list of not-to-miss spots). So when I saw that you two design juggernauts partnered up, I knew the collaboration would be perfect for the kitchen. I reached out to my Block Shop gals and they connected the dots with the Fireclay team and the rest is history.
Tile: Signal in Clay Motif
When I was dreaming up backsplashes for the kitchen, I knew that I wanted something geometric and playful but still refined and chic. Just look at those colors! The 6" Signal Tile backsplash was all I ever wanted (and totally elevated the Ikea kitchen that had to be hacked to be ADA-compliant).
Tile: Signal in Clay Motif
What made you want to work with Fireclay Tile? What do you love most about your tile?
I've long been a fan of Fireclay Tile and your gorgeous, juicy tiles. Your commitment to craftsmanship is top notch and it’s overall such a rad company (I love that you’re a certified B-Corp).Your tile selection is incredible, everyone there was a delight to work with, I love your mission, and you’re handmade locally in CA just like AGJ.
Tile: 3x3 Painted Sky with 3" Hexagon Lake Tahoe Matte
We love how fun and colorful the space is, how would you advise others to be bold with colors?
More is more. Ha! I really just try to surround myself with things that make me happy and that's often pieces with color and pattern. To keep things from looking too bananas, I try to use pieces in the same complementary color families. And then maybe just 1 pop of contrast. Also, limit where you use the pattern (ie if you have a wild wallpaper or rug let that be the statement and keep other pieces more subdued). But you'll know when some wacky pattern is right because it will tug at you the moment you see it.
One of my favorite ways to layer in color is with ART!!! I was beyond thrilled to be able to showcase some rad art by some of my dear friends. In my office, Sally King Benedict painted me a custom piece (I sent her renderings for my custom scalloped trimmed desk + credenza and a swatch of the Bunny Nose Pink paint and away she went).
Mark Leary was a dream to work with on the custom mobile for the work room upstairs to help provide movement and break up the sea of white walls. I sent him images of the space and we picked shapes and color palette and then he made me the happiest mobile there ever was. Plus the colors tie in perfectly with the large scale David Matthew King piece + the checkered moroccan rug downstairs. I’ve also got some special prints from my girl Nicki Sebastion and her ‘Prints for a Cause” series.
How did the installation go? Had your installer worked with handmade tile before?
Credit where credit is due. My contractor Woznak Construction handled the install seamlessly. I know that handmade tiles can be finicky to work with but he had zero complaints. Slow and steady and we got it done. The finished results speak for themselves!
Tile: 3x3 Limon
Inspired by Ariel’s jewel-like bathrooms and geometric kitchen? Bring home free samples today to recreate the look in your space.
