Just In! Holly Yashi Jewelry

A partnership of art and industry, Holly Yashi was founded in 1981 by jewelry designer Holly Hosterman and industrial artist Paul Lubitz (a.k.a. Yashi). Holly Yashi's stylish jewelry, with its amazing, luminous colors and innovative materials, met with immediate success in the marketplace, and the company soon became known throughout the U.S.

Twenty years - and tens of thousands of earrings ago - Holly Yashi was born in a rented garage in the small college town of Arcata, deep behind the "Redwood Curtain" along the rugged coast of Northern California. Paul Lubitz, with a master's degree in Industrial Arts, and Holly Hosterman, with a bachelor's degree in Fine Art, decided to start a jewelry manufacturing business. Holly, with early awards in school and a recent successful showing of her handcrafted jewelry thought, "Can we really do this for a living?"

It was a singular event, however, that really fired Holly Yashi's artistic and financial success. Along with the gold, silver, and copper they had been using, Holly and Paul discovered the extraordinary beauty that lurks in a dull grey metal called niobium. Dipped in an electrically-charged bath, the refractory metal flashes into magnificent colors (oxide layers that permanently change its color), depending on what voltage of electricity is applied.

Though niobium is twice the price of silver and nine times the price of titanium, Holly's designs demand its superior coloring properties. Equally important, niobium is environmentally clean from start to finish. And besides being clean, it is lightweight and so hypoallergenic that it's highly sought after for use in surgical implants - perfect for earrings.

We are now carrying Reversibles from Holly Yashi. Each piece is two sided making each item of jewelry versatile enough to be worn either way – giving you two for the price of one!