John Hardy (jewelry)
Encyclopedia
John Hardy is a handmade jewelry and home accessories company. Founded by John Hardy in 1989, the company is headquartered in Hong Kong, has its production center in Bali and has a satellite office in New York. The company is known for its environmental conservation activism, particularly through the planting of bamboo to offset its carbon emissions, its use of recycled silver and its support of environmentally focused charities. It markets itself as a “sustainable luxury” brand.
In 1999, Guy Bedarida
joined the company as Head Designer and changed Hardy’s design concepts to include the use of classical European jewelry techniques and new motifs inspired by nature and ancient East Asian art styles and themes.
In 2007, then CFO of Asia and current company CEO, Damien Dernoncourt
, and Head Designer and Creative Director, Bedarida, purchased the company from Hardy.
Today, John Hardy jewelry is sold in the USA (distributed by Neiman Marcus
, Saks Fifth Avenue
, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom
and independent retailers, Asia (distributed by Lane Crawford
in China
and Hong Kong
and distributed by Isetan
in Japan
), the Middle East (Dubai
, Abu Dhabi
), Europe
(distributed by Le Bon Marche
in Paris
and by Net-A-Porter and Harrods
in the UK
), and the Caribbean (distributed by independent retailers).
and studies Balinese jewelry making techniques.
1989: Hardy founds the company.
1991: John Hardy launches its collections at Neiman Marcus
.
1992: John Hardy launches its collections at Saks Fifth Avenue
.
1992: John Hardy introduces its Home and Lifestyle collection.
1999: Bedarida, a senior designer of haute joaillerie of the Place Vendôme
, joins the company as Head Designer.
2002: John Hardy launches "Cinta by John Hardy" in the US, a collection of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces.
2003: Damien Dernoncourt
joins the company as CFO of Asia.
2006: Launch of "Sustainable Advertising" project. The company begins to offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its print advertising and business travel.: giving back to nature when spending resources for business
2007: John Hardy retires and sells the company to Dernoncourt and Bedarida.
2008: The Company begins to compensate carbon emissions from its electricity usage through its 'Greener Every Day program.'
2010: John Hardy launches in the UK at Harrods.
2010: Model Angela Lindvall
collaborates with Bedarida to design the Hijau collection.
2010: Launch of the John Hardy Online Boutique.
2010: The company donates 600,000 bamboo seedlings to the Bali Green and Clean event.
Bedeg Cuff being drawn in the initial creative stages.
Classic Chain being woven using the rantai technique.
Firing of a Naga ring in the final stages of crafting.
In 2006, it began to offset the carbon emissions from its print advertising, business travel and electricity consumption. It does so by planting bamboo
on Bali
and Nusa Penida
, a small island off the coast of Bali
. Through its ‘Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo’ program, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of its Bamboo collection items are used to fund the company’s continuous bamboo plantings.
In 2010 John Hardy pledge 600,000 bamboo seedlings, paid for with the funds raised by the Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo program, to Bali Green and Clean, a program dedicated to repairing environmental damage on the island. In April 2011 the planting of the seedlings was completed.
History
John Hardy jewelry was founded by Canadian designer and artist, John Hardy, in 1989. He visited Bali in the mid-1970s and the island's jewelry-making traditions raised his interest. He began learning the techniques of the local artisans then developed his first pieces by applying new design concepts to traditional Balinese techniques.In 1999, Guy Bedarida
Guy Bedarida
Guy Bedarida, is the Creative Director and Head Designer of the John Hardy brand. He was raised in Florence and Paris and is of French and Italian parentage. Currently, he lives between Asia, Europe and USA.-Education & Career:...
joined the company as Head Designer and changed Hardy’s design concepts to include the use of classical European jewelry techniques and new motifs inspired by nature and ancient East Asian art styles and themes.
In 2007, then CFO of Asia and current company CEO, Damien Dernoncourt
Damien Dernoncourt
Damien Dernoncourt, is a French businessman based in Hong Kong. Originally from Lille, North of France, Dernoncourt has been living in Hong Kong since 1995, with his wife and two children.Biography...
, and Head Designer and Creative Director, Bedarida, purchased the company from Hardy.
Today, John Hardy jewelry is sold in the USA (distributed by Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
, Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
and independent retailers, Asia (distributed by Lane Crawford
Lane Crawford
Lane Crawford is a retailing company with specialty stores selling designer label luxury goods in Hong Kong and Beijing, China....
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and distributed by Isetan
Isetan
is a Japanese department store. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Isetan has branches throughout Japan and East Asia, including Bangkok, Jinan, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin and formerly in Hong Kong, London and Vienna....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), the Middle East (Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
), Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(distributed by Le Bon Marche
Le Bon Marché
Le Bon Marché is the name of one of the best known department stores in Paris, France. It is sometimes regarded as the "first department store in the world". Although this depends on what is meant by 'department store', it may have had the first specially designed building for a store in Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and by Net-A-Porter and Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), and the Caribbean (distributed by independent retailers).
Timeline
1975: John Hardy moves to BaliBali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
and studies Balinese jewelry making techniques.
1989: Hardy founds the company.
1991: John Hardy launches its collections at Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
.
1992: John Hardy launches its collections at Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
.
1992: John Hardy introduces its Home and Lifestyle collection.
1999: Bedarida, a senior designer of haute joaillerie of the Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
, joins the company as Head Designer.
2003: Damien Dernoncourt
Damien Dernoncourt
Damien Dernoncourt, is a French businessman based in Hong Kong. Originally from Lille, North of France, Dernoncourt has been living in Hong Kong since 1995, with his wife and two children.Biography...
joins the company as CFO of Asia.
2007: John Hardy retires and sells the company to Dernoncourt and Bedarida.
2008: The Company begins to compensate carbon emissions from its electricity usage through its 'Greener Every Day program.'
2010: John Hardy launches in the UK at Harrods.
2010: Model Angela Lindvall
Angela Lindvall
Angela Lindvall is an American model and occasional actress.-Career:Lindvall was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma to Randall Lindvall, a pharmacist, and Laura Rasdall, a medical technologist and massage therapist. She was raised in Lee's Summit, Missouri and attended Lee's Summit High School...
collaborates with Bedarida to design the Hijau collection.
2010: Launch of the John Hardy Online Boutique.
2010: The company donates 600,000 bamboo seedlings to the Bali Green and Clean event.
Designs
John Hardy jewelry is known for its designs in sterling silver and its use of four traditional Balinese jewelry-making techniques: rantai (woven chain), tenun (woven mesh), jawan (granulation) and ukiran (cut work). The rantai technique is employed for bracelets and necklaces woven in a process that may take several days. After being woven, the pieces are shaped and annealed by heating and hammering then finished with clasps in signature motifs or gemstones . The ukiran technique is used to cut out abstract and figurative designs in the metal to add a back grill – a cut work on the inner surface of the jewelry. The tenun technique is used to weave the metal into a fine mesh or complex chains and the and the jawan technique is used to flatten and smooth it.Bedeg Cuff being drawn in the initial creative stages.
Classic Chain being woven using the rantai technique.
Firing of a Naga ring in the final stages of crafting.
Environmental and Social Consciousness
“Greener Every Day” is a company slogan used to summarize and describe its efforts to be a “green” company (eventually become carbon neutral) and its encouragement of others companies and individuals to set similar goals.In 2006, it began to offset the carbon emissions from its print advertising, business travel and electricity consumption. It does so by planting bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
on Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
and Nusa Penida
Nusa Penida
Nusa Penida is an island southeast of Bali island, Indonesia. Administratively, the island is a district of Klungkung regency. There are two small islands nearby: Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. The Badung Strait separates the island and Bali. The interior of Nusa Penida is hilly with a maximum...
, a small island off the coast of Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
. Through its ‘Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo’ program, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of its Bamboo collection items are used to fund the company’s continuous bamboo plantings.
In 2010 John Hardy pledge 600,000 bamboo seedlings, paid for with the funds raised by the Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo program, to Bali Green and Clean, a program dedicated to repairing environmental damage on the island. In April 2011 the planting of the seedlings was completed.