William Ehrlich

Born in 1941 in New York, New York

Lives and works in New York, New York

William Ehrlich produces innovative jewelry influenced by his lifelong artistic interests. His early pursuits with painting and sculpture helped him to achieve a degree in architecture from Harvard University that nurtured and refined his creative expression. He joined the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and then founded his own practice that eventually led to a career in real estate design and development. He is an avid collector of contemporary art and decorative arts movements. Both of these passions are evident within his jewelry collection.

“The three major elements that influence my work are the structural and technical that derive from architecture; the dialogue between form, color and composition of contemporary art, and the interest in the forms and motifs that comprise the Arts & Crafts movement,” says Ehrlich.

Ehrlich designs and draws each piece of jewelry by hand and transfers the drawings into an AutoCAD graphic computer program. This program drives a laser-cutting machine to form the many pieces from sheets of German silver. The cut elements are then polished and depending on the design, left plain or set with precious or semi-precious stones that he personally handpicks. The silver is plated with black rhodium, giving the jewelry a dark, rich gunmetal finish. The combination of all these elements results in a very distinctive body of work and unique pieces of jewelry.