A guide to watches and jewellery
Karen Erickson and Vicki Beamon, the founders of jewellery brand Erickson Beamon, are pioneers in making costume jewellery with couture-like qualities. Each piece is handmade in either their London or New York workshops and inspected by one of them before being sold in their boutique in London's Elizabeth Street or one of the many retailers from New York and Paris to London and Tokyo.
'We're not near each other, but telepathically we're like twins,' says the London-based Beamon. Erickson is based in New York, where the pair set up their jewellery business in 1983. They met and became good friends in Detroit before both moving to New York. 'Karen had a fabulous store, it was a hang-out place and the first store in Detroit to do [jewellery] platforms, so it was a very happening place,' says Beamon.
The pair started by making necklaces from beads and crystals when they couldn't find jewellery for a designer's runway show they were working on. Beamon moved to London in 1985 when their business expanded internationally, although they work together on each design.
Since then, they've collaborated with countless fashion brands, including Anna Sui, Dior, Chanel and Matthew Williamson. Their private clients include Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and Madonna.
What makes their partnership more interesting is that neither of them has formally trained in jewellery design. 'We kind of discovered our craft at [notoriously hedonistic nightclub] Studio 54 and we saw more than the eye could see for the rest of our lives,' says Beamon during their recent visit to Hong Kong.