Jewelry designed by Peggy on the dining room table. "Bright Young Things" Photographed by Jonathan Becker

(Click Here) To Browse Large Photographs of "Bright Young Things"

Peggy Stephaich Guinness has been designing jewelry since the early 1980's. Her unique designs are marked by the use of precious as well as semi-precious stones which are always mounted in 18-22 karat gold. Unlike many jewelry designers, Peggy cuts stones to fit her creations rather than design around the stones.

Peggy's jewelry is greatly influenced by her world travels. Early in her career she spent ten years in San Paulo, Brazil. It was there that she began to work with stones that would become her favorites: Tanzanite, Citrine, and Tourmaline. Peggy has traveled extensively to remote areas of the Orient where she has been inspired by the art and crafts found in the local cultures she encountered.

She continues to experiment with new materials and designs to create jewelry that is young and bold; worn easily with jeans by day or cocktails at night.

Her collections can be found at Greenleaf & Crosby (Tel: 561-655-5850) in Palm Beach and in shops in and around New York City.

The below is reprinted by permission from the book, " Bright Young Things"
by Brooke De OCampo,
Photographed by Jonathan Becker,
and published by Assouline,
available at Amazon.com for $50.

Peggy and Sebastian Guinness

Peggy and Sebastian at the entrance to the living area of the loft. Sebastian wears a purple velvet dinner jacket and trousers made from an Indonesian Ikat.	"It's like an oasis in SoHo," says Peggy Stephaich Guinness of the Manhattan 19th -century pied-à-terre she shares with her husband Sebastian and their Cairn terrier, Gypsy. "Everyone who walks in here says it doesn't feel like New York. It feels very Asian." The large-scale, comfortable furniture, much of it garnered in places like Brazil, China, Bali, and Spain, invites lounging. The floors are the original cherry wood. The wooden windows, pleasingly old and full of gaps, sing on windy days. This is the quintessential Bohemian studio. Objects d'art are deposited here on the way back from one place, on the way to another: from the Far East, Amazon Indian featherhead pieces and masks, Tibetan religious images, Indonesian textiles, and almost lost amongst all this exotica, a little pillow embroidered with the word Foxcroft, the conservative Virginia boarding school where Peggy was educated. "This place is the real combination of our collections," says Sebastian. "I'd say it's pretty Victorian in all our stuff and found places for it. It couldn't really be called 'decorating.' It just happened."
When she was 19, Peggy went to visit her brother in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and ended up staying for the next eleven years. "I just fell in love with the beauty of the place," She says. "I felt, and still feel, a strong connection to the land, the people, the music, and the art." Turned on by the energy and sensuality of life in Brazil, Peggy began designing jewelry using the distinctive native materials. "I just started playing with it, really," she says. Her favorite stones-tanzanite, citrine, tourmaline-all come from Brazil. Her designs have been featured in all the major fashion magazines and praised for their innovative use of new materials, boldness, and youthful spirit. "They can be easily worn with jeans by day, then to cocktails at night," said one writer.	Peggy and Sebastian Guinness in their eclectic loft in SoHo. Peggy wears a large red coral necklace she designed.

(Click Here) To Browse Large Photographs of "Bright Young Things"