NORA'S STORY

 

Nora Kogan has been designing obsession-worthy jewelry in New York City for more than a decade. 

Nora Kogan makes pieces that embody the magic, beauty, and power that we possess within. In her hands, flora, fauna, and ancient symbols take on new meaning and life. Made by master artisans in NYC from recycled fine metals and ethically sourced gems, these modern-day talismans affirm and inspire through edgy -- yet embraceable -- feel-great design. She truly understands what makes us feel beautiful, inside and out.

Nora Kogan’s jewelry reflects her endless curiosity and adventurousness. She draws on her wide travels, her dreams, and her deep knowledge of jewelry and fashion to create designs that feel timeless and yet unexpected at once.

“I grew up in a house by the Black Sea where my grandfather collected books, my father collected knives, and my mother collected jewelry. When we left Odessa behind for good, my mother hid her jewels in a transistor radio that she entrusted to me, all of ten years old, during the long train ride from Russia to Italy. We spent the next year living in Ostia, a coastal town outside of Rome, in a dilapidated villa on the beach.

“A year later we settled in Melbourne, Australia, in a seaside neighborhood called St. Kilda. Then St. Kilda was populated with artists, aborigines, junkies, holocaust survivors, intellectuals, and émigrés. Victorian mansions, Art Deco apartment buildings, palm trees and the beach made a surreal backdrop.

“As a young adult I spent almost ten years living abroad, mostly throughout Europe and Japan. During my last big adventure I studied in a yeshiva in Israel, in a town called Tsfat, known for its artist colony and as the birthplace of Kabalah. Eventually I sought out two local jewelers who became my friends and informal mentors. Sitting at a jeweler's bench for the first time crystallized it for me. I knew I needed to study jewelry seriously. Leaving that beautiful ancient city, where I lived in an old house with a view of Mount Meron, wasn't easy.

“Back in Australia, I studied goldsmithing at Northern Melbourne Institute of Technology. I don't believe you can design something without an intimate understanding of how it's constructed. I completed my degree and began an apprenticeship, when I got the opportunity to move to New York.”

All Nora Kogan jewelry is made locally. New York City is rich with generations of highly skilled artisans and we can’t imagine producing our pieces anywhere else. We strive for authenticity in every part of our business and we do this by maintaining close relationships with everyone involved in producing the Nora Kogan line.

Discover the pure pleasures of Nora Kogan. As close to perfect as humanly possible.