About Alison Mezey

International jewelry designer Alison Mezey began her jewelry career in 1997, designing for a guild of master Tuareg silversmiths in the Saharan Desert of West Africa. This exclusive guild, A L'Atelier, has produced engraved silver for the renowned French company, Hermes, since 1991. Carefully integrating her sculptural sensibility with the ancient Tuareg aesthetic, she co-produced an unprecedented line of high-end silver jewelry marketed by the company she co-founded, Exote, for the Western fashion market.

Returning to California in 2002, she established Alison Mezey Collections, training artisans in the U.S. to produce fashion jewelry, primarily Sewn Gold™, a technique she invented. Her Sewn Gold Collection utilizes her innovative beading technique featuring 24K gold electroplated steel cord sewn through gold chain and her gorgeous, fashion-sensitive palettes of precious and semi-precious stones and pearls. Her favorite line, the Sewn Gold Bridal Collection, has been featured in multiple wedding magazines and happily worn in numerous weddings.

Later she returned to the Sahara to work again with the Tuareg artisans to produce a new gold-plated line, Saharan Gold™, a hip, contemporary melding of two diverse cultures. These pieces are masterfully handcrafted with only the aid of ancient tools and techniques. Each piece is forged, shaped, polished and engraved by the Tuareg artisans using a delicate technique called "gravure à la main tremblée," creating one-of-a-kind pieces whose engraving also reflects the individuality and inspiration of the artisan. Some of her designs are currently featured in the exhibition, "The Art of Being Tuareg" hosted this year by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford and UCLA's Fowler Museum and published in the book by the same name.

With her distinctive jewelry Alison gained representation by one of the top showrooms in the country, Fragments, Inc., and later by the cutting-edge People's Revolution. She has received press in numerous publications including Vogue, InStyle, O, Elle and Modern Jeweler. She has sold Sewn Gold and Saharan Gold & Silver to clients including Neiman Marcus Direct, Bailey Banks and Biddle, Takashimaya, Josephs, Sundance Catalog, as well as to prestigious boutiques internationally. Alison has also been commissioned to design custom lines for Takashimaya, fine jewelry for Samuelson's Pearls and benefit pieces for Amnesty International and other various charities.

Years of intensive hands-on, international experience running her own manufacturing business have uniquely informed Alison's skill as a consultant. She is now consulting full-time to improve, elaborate and/or completely create other companies' jewelry lines and brands. This year she moved to New York to consult extensively for the development of the new Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company. Many of her custom fine jewelry designs walked the runway of the internationally lauded Ralph Lauren 40^th Anniversary Fashion Show.

For Alison, one of the greatest gifts of her work is to continue to discover and work with master artisans all over the world. All the better when she can help provide economic sustainability for indigenous artisans and their communities, while consistently designing outstanding, charismatic jewelry that inspires romance, beauty, and the best in each of us.