CatbirdBetween North 5th Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg lies Catbird, a special but unassuming jewellery store founded by Rony Vardi back in 2004. Come weekends, the scene outside said unassuming store resembles what you’d expect to see at a sample sale. Queues aren’t farfetched and once you get in, the intimate space is heaving as hordes of women pounce on their special brand of dainty ‘wear now, love forever’ jewellery.

Catbird has been the go-to jewellery place for girls in the know since Vardi first opened its doors. Michelle Williams and Liv Tyler are fans – and if you’ve been paying attention while watching Girls over the past few years, you’re well and truly acquainted with their pieces. Now with 56 employees and a booming online business under their belt, they also offer a great selection of beauty products and Instagram-worthy candles and the like. Somehow the pair have a knack for choosing everything you would ever find covetable.

“We’ve worked really hard to establish ourselves as a trustworthy place to find not only the most beautiful jewellery, but other exciting finds,” Rony explained when we sat down in the Brooklyn HQ. “We work in the same space as our e-commerce fulfillment so sometimes I’ll catch a glimpse of a web order where it is clear that someone really plumbed every corner of the website and ordered gifts for every family member. I am always tempted to call that person up and chat with them. They must be a kindred spirit.”

The pair met just after the first store opened. “I had been the sidelines buyer at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., where I went to college, and then I moved back home to New York to start my stationary line,” Leigh explains. “We met at the Javits Convention Center, which is dingy and not romantic, so all the more special when you encounter sunshine there.” Neither of them doubted that jewellery would be their focus. “I sold apparel for a while but found it a little joyless and the logistics drove me crazy. The seasons, the sizes, the fits. Agh. Selling jewellery is a joy filled occasion.”

Like many great businesses, Catbird came into being by chance. Working as a graphic designer and seamstress at the time, she’d always had the idea to launch her own project so when a tiny shop near her apartment at the time opened up, she used $16,000 she’d saved and launched with that. A second store followed in 2009 and in 2009 she closed the first store and concentrated on turning the business into a lifestyle store. “Living in the neighbourhood and having few personal responsibilities, I was open to taking a risk and starting something on my own. I had a pretty strong idea that whatever I started would morph over time but I really like change and was excited by that prospect,” she says. “The way it started was really relaxed and organic but I wasn’t so relaxed because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.”

When we caught up, we quizzed the pair on their design process, on being based and made in Brooklyn and the future of the industry.

ON THEIR AESTHETIC & DESIGN PROCESS

Rony: We always work on a delicate scale. Periodically we branch out and make something a little chunkier, but we never stay there for very long. Our featherweight, sparkly Threadbare Ring is a signature of our line and a best seller. We tend to favour a sprinkling of small diamonds rather than giant ones. Instinct plays a huge role in our decision making, on all fronts. Instinct, hand in hand with always looking ahead, is how we move forward.

Leigh: We only make what we love. We follow what makes our own hearts race. I don’t know how to quantify the rules of this world, but there are rules! And we know when something fits perfectly inside of it, and when it does not. We want to make pieces that slip seamlessly and perfectly into your life, into our lives, that give a thrill, and work well with other pieces. We are looking for strength and ease of wear. You know those dresses that always bunch in a funny place, or skirts that are just too short: we will never release jewelry that is an equivalent of that. It must be ready for a lifetime, too – there’s a way to treat your jewelry kindly, of course, but we also work to do our part in ensuring that what we call “sparkly air” is as strong as something so gossamer can be.

CatbirdON PRODUCING THEIR COLLECTIONS IN WILLIAMSBURG

Rony: Making everything in-house not only allows us to make what we want, at the quantities that make sense for this business – it allows us to take risks, since we can try to make even one of something. We are able to inspect the quality of every single piece before it leaves our studio. And perhaps most importantly, we are in full control of the work environment where our jewellery is made. I built our studio with our studio manager so we have good ventilation, ergonomic chairs, stretching equipment, free ice coffee. We have the deep privilege of making beautiful things – they should be made in an environment full of warmth and support.

ON LONGEVITY AND THE FAST PACE OF FASHION

Leigh: We want you to have, and wear, your Catbird pieces for forever. You might take them off for a while, and rediscover them, but we always think about how pieces interact with each other, and we really make what we want. It’s nice to think that you can dip in and out…

Rony: I have friends in the fashion business who make collections continuously and it seems exhausting – both for your team and for your customers. We love classic and timeless shapes and stones that are never of-the-moment. I am not sure that a pre-cruise jewellery collection is a necessary thing.

START-UP LIFE

Rony: Having a very large staff (56 people currently) is the most rewarding and the most challenging. When we have company-wide activities like our annual bowling night and I look around at these lovely, familiar faces and everyone is smiling and enjoying each other’s company – it is the absolute best. But also the responsibility of having such a large staff can be so daunting. Making sure everyone is taken care of – whether it’s health insurance or having a good relationship with their manager – is the hardest part for me.