Inside the Oldest Jewelry Studio in the United States - thebolditalic
Dan and Emma have deep roots in the area, starting with Peter Macchiarini, whom the Board of Supervisors declared a “San Francisco legend” before his death in 2001 at the age of 91. Peter was a Sonoma County–born son of Italian immigrants, who pioneered modernist metalwork design and avant-garde rings, bracelets, and brooches using gold, silver, and other metals.
The elder Macchiarini was also a longtime beloved North Beach local who did everything from hobnobbing with WPA artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to designing his own African-inspired jewelry, including a wedding ring for Beat-era icon Neal Cassady. He also co-founded the Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair, the country’s first street fair, which is better known today as the North Beach Festival.
Peter first opened the store in the fall of 1948 at 1415 Grant Avenue, where it stayed until he moved 10 years later to 1422 Grant Avenue. Then, the studio saw its final home at 1529B Grant Avenue.
Dan describes himself as a sculptor rather than a jeweler. “Dot jewelry” — rings, earrings, bracelets, and brooches — is one of Macchiarini’s specialties and an example of the “neo-modernist” design that distinguishes his work. “Our pieces are wearable sculptures,” he explains. “Most jewelry tends to be flat; what we do is more three-dimensional and has layers in it. You’re looking into a landscape, a space-scape that conveys a sense of depth,” he said pointing at a dot ring.
Explaining his design approach, he shows me recent earring designs and Burning Man rings that have been popular with clients. Incorporating some of his father’s design elements, his work integrates abstract angles, lines, and orbs of various sizes, creating a fanciful sense of balance.
The store also offers workshops for couples to make their own wedding rings. When Dan moved to the current location in 2007, he had a surfeit of square footage, and Emma wanted to turn it into educational space after she got her art degree.
“My grandfather had taught before at Mills College. That’s how he met his wife,” Emma said. “I had a desire to teach all along because we have a specific way of doing things — every metalsmith does. We wanted to bring this style to other people.”
Today, the studio conducts four classes a week, each with seven to eight people. Emma, who also teaches jewelry design and drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute, has subsequently expanded her workshops to corporate clients, offering a type of team building in the form of metalsmithing days.
Emma said that for a while she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue the family’s business — it was touch and go. “People walk in, and they can’t believe the energy here. We’ve created a whole experience. You can’t get this experience online or from Amazon or from formula retail. If you come here, you get this experience. This is what we’re selling.”
After my last interview and photo shoot with Dan and Emma, I ended the day with a coffee break at Caffe Trieste a few blocks away. As I sip my caffè macchiato — an espresso with a “dot” of foamed milk — the diminutive form of the Italian word macchiato (“spotted”) comes to mind. I realized that macchiarini, loosely defined, means “little dots.”
I suspect Peter Macchiarini, renowned for his pragmatism, must have known this.
