Vintage Feel
Designer Nicole Whisenhunt shares why there’s lasting power and sentimentality in fine jewelry.
Written by Khyne Palumar
July 24, 2023
“There are two reasons people come to me for jewelry design—one is for fashion, and the other, which happens more often, is to mark milestones,” Nicole Whisenhunt says, recalling a recent client whose purchase leaned towards the latter. She had met with a father who wanted to round out his daughter’s graduation with a keepsake before he headed back to the US. Whisenhunt furnished him a gold pendant with his daughter’s monogrammed initials in front and dad’s personal inscription etched in the back. “At the end of the day, sentimentality plays a big factor on why people buy jewelry,” she says. “I think it’s because it lasts lifetimes.”
Whisenhunt has been in the business of designing jewelry for over a decade now. In her 20s, she started handcrafting fashion accessories and statement pieces out of wiry metal and embroidery. This passion project grew into a full-fledged career over the years, with Nicole enlisting goldsmiths, stone setters, and craftsmen as she turned her focus to fine jewelry. Whisenhunt also flew to Paris to take classes at the famed School of Jewelry Arts —L’ecole Van Cleef and Arpels.
The French jewelers’ body of work are known to “fetch a higher price than a Cartier at auction houses,” she says. “They were also awarded by the French government for being the only surviving French jewelry house that still preserved the old ways of making jewelry, so there's a lot of respect for their brand. Then they put up the school.”
Like Van Cleef and Arpels, Whisenhunt gravitates towards the “old ways” of making jewelry but tries to marry modernity with tradition in her designs. The Whisenhunt boutique at Rockwell houses pieces that range from colorfully stoned engagement rings and chunky gold earrings to vivid portrait pendants hand-painted by Italian artisans. Commissions typically take a month to undertake, from consulting to drafting and revising designs, and finally, production.
Unlike Van Cleef and Arpels, Whisenhunt wants her pieces to be accessible. She sits down with clients in store or over Zoom, to try and match a memorable piece with each recipient. “I want them to view, touch, and try on our jewelry.”
Besides commissioned pieces, Whisenhunt releases annual collections, carrying up to 24 themed items that often reflect her proclivity towards art deco and ‘70s retro stylings. “With earrings, I like them exaggeratedly bigger. I also like using diamonds and 18-karat yellow gold—yellow has always been my favorite color of gold,” Whisenhunt says. “I execute my pieces to feel vintage while also looking modern.” Across her wide collection of glittering on-hand and bespoke pieces, Whisenhunt wants every piece of jewelry she designs to be an heirloom. “I want them to be passed down to generations of jewelry wearers.”
Whisenhunt Fine Jewelry Boutique is at the 2nd Floor New Wing of Powerplant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati. 