Holly Yashi Store and Studio

It was the beginning of April when we were staying in Eureka CA for a few glorious days. I kept seeing billboards for the Holly Yashi Store and Studio and learned that it was only a couple miles away in Arcata. I’ve been an admirer of their jewelry designs for more years than I can remember, so I was really pleased when Steve said we could go there to explore.

I’ve always found many similarities between Holly Yashi designs and my own. We both love jewel like colors and interesting combinations of materials. Where we really differ is that Holly Yashi jewelry is more delicate. Whereas I tend to make bold, statement pieces that are one of a kind because I’m not a fan of repetitious work. Other differences are that the Holly Yashi brand is wildly successful and started way back in 1981. I didn’t start making jewelry until 2005.

Holly Yashi Store and Studio 

I was fascinated to learn about Holly Yashi’s humble beginning and I’m sure you will be too.

What began with only two jewelry artists, Holly Hosterman and Paul “Yashi” Lubitz, who began making jewelry in their one-car garage in Arcata, California. Now, over 40 years later there are close to 50 who work in the fabulous 15,000 square foot studio. The jewelry is still hand made and bringing magic to “help you lead your most colorful life”.

One of the reasons that I find their jewelry so irresistible is their use of the very lightweight metal niobium. The niobium pieces are enhanced with a whole array of materials that include Austrian crystal pearls, Bohemian and dichroic glass, and metals that are hypo-allergenic.

Discovering niobium was a game changer

Soon after Holly’s first designs of hand cut animal earrings made of brass and silver developed a loyal following they discovered the magic within niobium. Niobium is a seemingly dull gray metal. But through an expedited oxidation process of dipping the metal into a bath of electrically charged water, the metal turns into hues of rich, permanent color. This is the look that has created Holly Yashi’s signature style.

Holly and her creative team create new designs every day, maintaining a portfolio of over 1,000 styles which are all available through the company’s retail website, direct mail catalogs, retail stores across the country, and their flagship retail store that we visited.

A story behind every new design

To quote Holly’s husband “Yashi”: “We have a story around every piece of jewelry we make, every joint we weld, and color we choose. We hand craft each piece right here in our northern California studio. We talk with our artisans every day, eat bagels with them on Friday, and lunch with them the rest of the week. It’s a tradition we have here. We might be a little backwards, but we’ve grown almost every year we’ve been in business, so maybe there is something to it. It is the only way Holly and I would have it.”

Inspiration at every turn

As I jewelry designer I was so inspired by our tour of the studio and store. I needed to inspect each piece to try and learn a new technique or two. Because I don’t solder I have to look for alternative ways to connect pieces or manipulate wire into creative designs. Somehow I must have kept going back to a pair of Pansy earrings and Steve noticed that. Pansies have always been one of my favorite flowers, and these earrings were definitely not something that I could create myself. Knowing that my birthday was just a few days away, I hoped Steve might realize that. And sure enough, while I was looking at something else, he bought them.

When I returned for one last look at those gorgeous Pansy earrings, I was devastated to see them missing from the display. I guess I was pouting and Steve wanted to know why. Not wanting me to see me broken hearted, he handed me the beautifully packaged gift. Now you know what a wonderful husband I have. And why we are still happily married for 53 years. Hopefully G-d will grant us good health to enjoy each other for many more years to come!