Asher Hoffman
“The look of the jewelry is very much its own thing, but part of that look comes from the way the material can be and can't be worked,” Asher says of working in stainless steel. “Pushing the limits of the material is a big part of it.”Skulls, crosses, stars and shields have all survived for centuries as powerful symbols of identity.
And so Asher's jewelry is a perfect collision of eras—Medieval melodrama. Industrial Age brutality. And the impossibly perfect polish of modern times.
The rock star thing? Asher has it down cold.
Today, he designs jewelry in stainless steel from his New York City studio, Black & Blue. But he didn't start out creating pendants and timepieces for idols. Asher's craft began in a cellar.
“My grandfather had a workshop in the basement,” he says. “I had a knack for making things. Sometimes those things were wearable. Like jewelry.”
Asher was 12 when he first got his hands on traditional jewelry making equipment, using a torch and melted metal.
“I was hooked.”
Asher Today, he draws inspiration from music, architecture, and mechanics. Which may explain why one of his favorite subjects is the wristwatch.
“I love them,” he says. “I have a fairly large collection. We just launched our first watch this past holiday season."
Watches are among Asher's favorite types of jewelry to design. "It's the thing i want to do more than anything when i sit down and soul search," he says.Rochester sculptors Albert Paley and Wendell Castle made an impression on Asher, given his schooling at RIT and years spent living here. Today, his influences are broader.
“Lydia Courteille, Solange Azagury-Partridge, MB&F watches and vintage Momento Mori jewelry. All very exciting,” Asher says.
Those artists may inspire him, but his signature is distinct.
“I think the work I'm doing with Black & Blue is instantly different because it is stainless steel,” he says. “It's an incredible material. I have been working with it now for seven years, almost exclusively.”
Asher's big break came from Russell Simmons, co-founder of hip hop music label Def Jam and creator of the fashion line Phat Farm, for whom he designed his first collection.
“I was 27. I love hip hop and the collection was inspired, obviously, by that and Russell's history in that world,” Asher says.
“But, after about three years i really wanted to see the jewelry converge with other cultural influences like rock 'n' roll, and biker culture. A melting pot of rebel influences, maybe.”
That melting pot has attracted a wide audience.
“Our customers are mostly men from across the entire country,” Asher says.
“It used to be that these men came from more urban areas, but that has been changing dramatically.”
Crosses play heavily in his lineup. Why?
“They're a blank canvas,” he says. “They have a measured ratio that makes them work. Plus, they have a spiritual meaning to people. It's an honor to give people something with meaning.”
As always, what makes the metal precious is the spirit it reflects.
See more: www.blackandbluejewelry.com
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