CATHY WATERMAN

Large Redwood Flower Overlay Pendant with
22K Yellow Gold Frame and Carved Redwood

Declared by the American Society of Engineers as “one of the modern Wonders of the World,” the Golden Gate Bridge, located in San Francisco, California, is also one of the world’s most recognized suspension bridges.  California is also home to featured jewelry designer Cathy Waterman.

Fairytales have always influenced Waterman’s beautiful high-end fine jewelry line.  Old World grandeur and romanticism is a part of every implementation of lush 22-karat yellow gold and precious gems like blue sapphires.

Her signature gnarled branch motif—most prominent in her initial pendants--particularly enhances this great magical quality as though they were created in an enchanted forest in another place and time. 

It is no wonder costume designer Colleen Atwood asked the jeweler to create gold rings, gold bracelets and gemstone pendants for the 2012 feature film Snow White and the Huntsman as worn by actors Charlize Theron (Queen Ravenna), Liberty Ross (Snow White’s mother) and Kristen Stewart (Snow White).

“It was a very enriching experience working with Colleen.  She creates whatever she dreams of and that is what I do,” she says.  “I was thrilled when she asked me to work with her on one of my favorite fairytales.

Colleen understands that most of my jewelry is greatly influenced by fantasy and beauty and that it represents both my good and bad character qualities.  For Charlize’s character, Queen Ravenna, Colleen wanted pieces that were complex and reflected ferocity and refinement. ”

Charlize Theron (as Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman)
wearing Crown, 22K Gold and Sapphire Necklace, and 22K Gold Earrings
with Black and White Diamonds

Indeed.  Waterman’s robust jewelry is a mixture of classic and statement making silhouettes. For instance, the jeweler’s Large Redwood Flower Overlay Pendant is a collaboration piece with master wood sculptor Gary Stevens. 

The pendant necklace features a 22-karat gold frame of tiny floral accents that surrounds an enormous, expertly carved and polished piece of Redwood.  This is definitely a piece made for a queen.

As I have stated in other posts, jewelry in and of itself is tied to emotion and love; but there is something about the rustic, Victorian visual of Waterman’s jewelry.  The distressed blackened gold and antique gemstones evoke a time when women were courted and romance was an art.

“One time my husband and I were looking at an ancient collection of jewelry in a museum in Rome and my husband said to me 'Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some future generation looked at your jewelry and felt you conveyed something to them the grace of the human spirit in the way we wonder about the lives of the ancient Romans?’ What history will make of my jewelry?  Only time will tell,” says the twenty-two year veteran.

Of course Waterman’s mystical jewelry collections have garnered an impressive following that includes Maria Shriver, Charlize Theron and Gwyneth Paltrow.

As a matter of fact, Paltrow introduced Waterman’s jewelry to the costume designer of her 1998 film A Perfect Murder.  As a result Waterman’s diamond and platinum leaf encrusted wedding band was prominently featured in the finished film.

Platinum Diamond Leaf Ring from the film
A Perfect Murder