If there may be jewelry to be found, Elana Zajdman has seen it — from brands small and enormous, and provenance each very old and strikingly latest. The veteran fashion editor — most recently of InStyle, where she worked as senior accessories and jewellery editor — has now taken her knowledge and design acumen closer to home.

Zajdman has launched her own jewelry brand, Estelle Galerie, to deal with what she felt was a void out there. The brand, rooted in heirloom styling, is handmade in Recent York City and largely priced under $500.

Zajdman wants her line to feel like essentially the most convenient of antique stores — providing a window into discovery and enabling shoppers to treat themselves at an accessible price. The gathering is equal parts Zajdman’s designs and choose vintage pieces which were strung on unique chains for a up to date spin.

“I spotted the crazy price discrepancy between the fee of creating jewelry and what people were selling it for. I wanted to do that at a price point I’d want myself, and what the product looks like it’s value to me. It’s too lacking out there now, for pieces which might be well-made and desirable,” Zajdman said.

While Zajdman oversaw the broader accessories market at InStyle, in addition to other fashion titles like Vogue.com and Marie Claire, she all the time held a selected fondness for jewelry. Estelle Galerie is known as for Zajdman’s grandmother, whose drawers overflowed with jewelry trinkets that she’d gift her granddaughter as a type of aesthetic education.

“I began stepping into her jewelry boudoir at a young age — she had an entire closet full of bijou, costume pieces from the ’70s, so crazy stuff. I became very all in favour of it and learned lots from her,” Zajdman said.

The designer, now based between Paris and Recent York, began laying the groundwork for her label within the months before COVID-19 and decided to double down on the project immediately following InStyle’s closure in February.

Most of the gems in the gathering — like hand-carved lapis baubles — had already been sourced on Zajdman’s first brand business trip to India in 2019. All that was missing was her website.

Earlier this month the positioning went live — offering what Zajdman describes as a “curation,” of bijou and vintage objects, chosen for those with a collector’s mentality.

The tight assortment of gold-plated sculptural cocktail rings, high-quality pendants strung on 18-karat gold chains or silk cords and refined drop earrings sit beside found objects like an antique sterling silver perfume bottle or Cartier lighter from the ’70s.

The designer has also sourced strands of vintage natural stones for necklaces that exude a type of upscale bohemia — the type she herself dabbles in while flying between Paris and her family’s home in northern Vermont.

Zajdman will release latest designs every few months in drop formats, and can increase their frequency as Estelle Galerie grows. She can also be in conversation with retailers to place together small, exclusive wholesale drops.

For Zajdman, the goal is to supply exclusive marketplaces for a bunch of clients — making her a type of roving antique dealer. “I’d wish to have curated drops and do different trunk shows or seasonal collections for various places. I don’t wish to follow a fashion calendar, I would like to get inspired and have special and unique pieces which have purpose and feel intentional,” she said.