As many in her generation can relate, when she graduated college and needed to get a “real job,” she was unsure of what to do, feeling ambivalent towards any of her obvious options. A serendipitous 6 month adventure living in Mexico awakened in Chelsey the realization that she needed to pursue what she was truly passionate about, and not what was the safest bet. Her newfound perspective set in motion a trajectory that was rooted in that same love and excitement she felt when she first sat at the bench.

Returning to Vermont, Chelsey sought out metalsmith artisans and master craftspeople, she took classes and shadowed mentors and teachers. She went to New Mexico and met and worked with another self-taught goldsmith for a year. She moved to New York City and took studio classes in Midtown; she attended Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The momentum of her life kept pushing her resoundingly on this path.

After moving to Los Angeles and working for several amazing people, from bench jewelers to high jewelry designers, Chelsey launched Starling, truly aligning her passion with her livelihood. When she talks about what she loves about jewelry, Chelsey reveals her science chops, waxing poetic about how natural gemstones are formed deep in the earth for millions of years, how inclusions are formed, what they can say about the origins of a stone, about its geological properties. She’s attracted to the engineering of the craft, manipulating metal into all of a designs’ component parts and then conjoining them with fire.

Chelsey’s attachment to jewelry design is also metaphysical; she feels the magnitude of designing pieces that will be in constant, direct contact with one’s skin. She reasons jewelry isn’t discarded and replaced like other accessories; it’s not fleeting. So she honors its permanence and the intimacy of this connection with the wearer through the thoughtfulness and intention in her work, all of which is infused with the joy of her discovery of her craft.

Drawing from diverse sources of inspiration, Chelsey’s work conjures up Vermont’s lush flora and fauna while clean, elegant lines showcase her appreciation for the architecture of Downtown LA. Working collaboratively with a group of skilled artisans and master craftspeople in DTLA, her admiration of the energy, talent and innovation that it takes to make things by hand, which has existed throughout history, fuels her penchant to create. In Starling, natural inclusions become an essential part of the design; rather than try to hide them as “imperfections,” Chelsey caters to them, ensuring her designs maximize their prominence.

Meticulously engineered, using 100% post-consumer recycled metal and hand-selected, ethically sourced gemstones, Starling’s jewelry is whimsical and romantic, its boldness is expressed through the vibrant colors seen throughout the collections and the meaningful sentiments of its motifs. Chelsey believes that jewelry is meant to be personal, to be a private source of strength and empowerment, so she fills her collections with bespoke gemstone designs, intricately carved birth flowers, engravings and customizable pieces offering collectors of her work an intimate expression of life’s most important moments and memories.