Greenwich St. Jewelers co-owner Jennifer Gandia shared with The Zing Report earlier this year that she and her sister and business partner, Christina Gandia Gambale, were relocating their 20-year-old flagship store in New York City in the spring.
And now the wait is over—the second-generation retailers have opened a lovely new store inside an historic building: the circa-1857 Obsidian House, the city’s second oldest cast-iron building, at 93 Reade St. in TriBeCa.
The space was, once upon a time, home to at least one other jewelry or silversmith business; the street was a jeweler’s row at one point, and the building’s original facade has been carefully restored. Gandia and Gambale tapped Maori Hughes of NYC-based architecture firm MAOarch to design the new store, which they call “a love letter to downtown NYC.”
The store carries jewelry from over 40 independent designers as well as several house collections, a category that’s grown in recent years (G. St. recently debuted a collection of chic, colorful Moi et Toi rings). The shop boasts a full service, in-house jewelry workshop.
“We wanted to create a modern jewelry sanctuary, where you can engage with the collections of makers using ancient practices to create work that’s fresh and exciting,” said Gandia in a prepared statement. “Our mantra throughout the project was ‘luxury without pretension,’ always keeping in mind that we wanted the space to feel like home.”
The 1,550-square-foot space features exposed brick and a series of arches that lead customers down a sort of center aisle, in the (intentional) style of a classic NYC railroad apartment. There’s also a custom plaster wall installation by Brooklyn-based muralist Mason Nye and an original commissioned painting by East Village artist Rosalie Knox.
Greenwich St. Jewelers was founded by Gandia and Gambale’s parents, who emigrated to New York from Puerto Rico. Best-selling brands at the store include Alice Ciccolini, Eva Fehren, Marla Aaron, Melissa Joy Manning, Single Stone, Sylva & Cie, Tenthousandthings, and Wwake.
“As a second-generation business, we intimately understand the tension between past and present, and became curious as to how we could convey that through the store design,” said Gambale in the same statement. “The facade and history inspired us to create a space that joyfully explores the intersection of history and modernity while keeping the jewelry and client experience at the forefront. Every element in the store has been obsessed over to invite our clients to linger, play, and shop.” —Emili Vesilind
All photos courtesy of Greenwich St. Jewelers
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