Third Crown brings regal bearing to contemporary jewellery
Kofi and Kristin Essel bring a modernity to jewellery design in New York-based jewellery brand Third Crown
Kofi and Kristin Essel, the couple behind New York-based jewellery brand Third Crown, have developed the kind of verbal overlaps and interweaving common to successful life-work partnerships. Kofi, who grew up in Ghana, says, ‘Third Crown is about taking the aesthetic of a queen mother or a chief wearing all those traditional rings that are huge and stacked up, and when you see that person you just know who they are.’ Kristin, whose parents are from Jamaica, adds, ‘When you go to Jamaica – real Jamaica, not the resorts – you see everyone in big gold chains and lots of jewellery. So we want to make sure that all our pieces are big and bold.’ They laugh, realising they have mirrored one another’s responses but posited them in two locations. However, they are not interested in leaning on nostalgia, but instead are committed to crafting something new from their New York base that has resonance further afield.
Third Crown wears its founders’ heritages lightly. While cultures of origin inform the brand’s overall aesthetic, geometry, architecture and travel also inspire pieces that are simultaneously audacious and timeless. ‘Our first collection was “Arc” and it was a little translation of that shape of the Arc de Triomphe,’ says Kofi. ‘We like to think of all our collections as chapters in a book.’ Like a book, where the characters evolve with time and circumstance, Third Crown’s initial design theses have grown into collections that form an elegant continuum. Thus the ‘Arc’ morphed into the ‘Marcy’, a curvier iteration, and in the case of the ‘Hedron’ and ‘Prizm’ collections, tetrahedron forms were reinterpreted to include bevelling details and a custom chain link.
Since launching in 2013, Third Crown has remained wholly authentic to its ethos while nimble in execution. ‘A strong part of our brand DNA is the power of the pair,’ says Kofi. ‘Us coming together is what the brand is: as husband and wife, as male and female. But it’s also about creating this genderless space.’ For Kofi, who studied at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, and Kristin, who followed her degree in apparel design at Florida State University with stints at David Yurman and Reed Krakoff, it has meant creating jewellery that fits seamlessly into wearers’ everyday realities but doesn’t compromise the brand’s design language.
Actively rejecting the high jewellery scene and opting instead to create contemporary gold-plated pieces, pieces you ‘can ride the train in’, was canny and inclusive. And, rather than old-school suites or parures, pieces are simply paired, creating mini sets. When New York’s retail jewellery gatekeepers gave the brand a lukewarm response, they pivoted, focusing instead on e-commerce. ‘It actually worked in our favour,’ says Kristin. ‘Because once the pandemic hit and all the stores closed, everyone was shopping online.’
The brand’s ethos and daring, elevated aesthetic has attracted an A-list clientele that includes Beyoncé, Solange and Cardi B. ‘I feel that what we’re bringing to the table is different, and the artists that have worn us are just an extra nod,’ says Kofi.
The death of George Floyd in May last year and the attention it garnered for Black-owned creative businesses was bittersweet. ‘It was quite unfortunate that it took someone’s death for people to recognise Black creatives,’ says Kofi. But Kristin adds that they used the moment to pay their success forward, adding, ‘We made sure to donate a lot of the money we earned from the exposure to help others’. Future plans are informed by their new Brooklyn atelier, where a collaboration with fashion designer Jonathan Simkhai is in progress. Kofi is also keen to forge new links with Ghana. ‘One thing I really want to be able to do is source gold from the motherland,’ he says.
INFORMATION
This article features in the April 2021 issue of Wallpaper* (W*264), available for free download
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Mazzi Odu is a Ugandan-British writer, editor and cultural consultant based in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work focuses on jewellery, design, fashion and art. An alumna of the London School of Economics and Political Science, she has profiled a cross section of leading design talents and creative voices, with a special emphasis on those from the Global South and its Diaspora communities.
-
Private museum Simple Design Archive is a ‘poetic sound sanctuary’ in China
Simple Design Archive, located in China’s Anhui province, is a private museum by HAS Design and Research, fostering a contemplative environment
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
All hail the arrival of true autonomy? On Tesla’s proposed Robotaxi and techno-insecurity
Tesla’s new marketing push predicts a future of robot cabs, automated buses and autonomous home androids. We already want to get off
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Discothèque perfumes evoke the scent of Tokyo in the year 2000
As Discothèque gets ready to launch its first perfume collection, Mary Cleary catches up with the brand’s founders
By Mary Cleary Published
-
Art takes London: Tiffany & Co, Damien Hirst and artists take over Selfridges' windows
Four British contemporary artists celebrate Tiffany & Co's pioneering history with a series of storied window displays
By Anne Soward Published
-
Late summer jewels: what to wear at Golden Hour
Late summer signals a jewellery style-shift. These independent designers have got it covered
By Caragh McKay Published
-
All smiles: How a grillz jewellery making class in London became an international hit
What started as a passion project quickly exploded in popularity. We get the story behind the grillz-making workshop at Cockpit London
By Elisa Anniss Published
-
Emerging jewellery designers to get to know
These independent, new and emerging jewellery designers and brands from New York to Paris are firmly on our radar
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Jewellery designers share their most precious personal pieces
A host of jewellers give us a peek at the jewellery which brings them joy and solace
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Playing it cool: pearls are having a moment
We've been deep-diving into boutiques around the world to find the very best calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form. It seems jewellers have been busy rethinking pearls, with contemporary (and often affordable) results
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Eternity rings for the modern couple
Eternity rings, whether sleekly minimalist or sprinkled in diamonds, can be a chic and contemporary love token
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Alternative engagement rings with an edge
As the sales of engagement rings sky-rocket during lockdown, enjoy our off-kilter curation of edgy and unconventional engagement rings
By Hannah Silver Last updated