Another purpose-driven jewelry piece Vice President Harris wears features a distinctive black heart. Here you see her wearing it for Capital Pride events in June 2021.
The Vice President wore the Black Onyx Heart to Benefit NAACP ($2500) in 18k gold, diamonds, and black onyx. From the Harwell Godfrey description: “The pendant, envisioned as a healing talisman, has an onyx heart at its core. As Godfrey sketched the design, she realized that her signature triangle motif placed over the heart in repetition created what looks like a broken heart that has been put back together. The choice of black onyx was twofold: its color not only represents the black lives it honors, but it is also said to be a stone of grounding and strength. The bail has two bars creating an equal symbol as a gesture of the unity we can achieve when we help each other.”
The back of the pendant reads, “We are one.” 100% of profits from each Black Onyx Heart Talisman will be donated to the NAACP. If I read this Town and Country story correctly, more than $100,000 has been donated since the piece became available. My thanks to Tara Young for this ID.
The Vice President wore the piece with Harwell Godfrey’s Gold Foundation Chain Necklace in 18K gold ($3550).
Lauren Harwell Godfrey is a Californian like the Vice President. Her eponymous brand is based in the San Francisco Bay area. More about the designer from this NY Times piece by Tanya Dukes:
My initial design aesthetic was about sacred geometry and healing gemstones. But what I wasn’t seeing was a lot of design from the point of view of Black designers.
Jewelry was really aspirational for me. I jumped into jewelry from a design point of view without really looking at the industry as a whole. When I showed up, I wondered, “Where is everybody?”
What is happening right now has been very powerful for me because I’m being exposed to other Black designers, and I’m so thrilled because I didn’t know who was out there.
My work has actually evolved into showing that ethos and embracing that more. I’ve been evolving my designs to reflect that.
You can read the entire Tanya Dukes story here. In addition to Ms. Harwell Godfrey, the piece includes two other Black jewelry designers; all three talk about about “thriving in an industry that hasn’t always embraced them.”
