Rock On, Rodkin!
For one well-connected jeweler to the stars (Madonna, Rihanna, Cher and Kate Hudson are just a few of her many fans) and prominent political figures (Michelle Obama famously wore Rodkin’s jewelry the night of her husband’s inauguration), jewelry making started as a hobby for Loree Rodkin, who grew up in Chicago and followed a wannabe rock star boyfriend to Los Angeles when she was 19.
After several different career stints in Hollywood, she found early success at a rock and roll management company. While planning parties for her bosses and their clients in the mid-’70s, Rodkin fell in with L.A.’s rock crowd. It wasn’t long before she was managing Robert Downey Jr., and unsuspectingly, her jewelry collection flowered: “I used jewelry making to keep myself awake at night with Robert Downey Jr. It’s how I managed to be a glorified baby sitter. I would pick him up at parties and take him to work.”
Working for years under the tutelage of Ben Besbeck in Beverly Hills, a jeweler who specialized in vintage restoration, Loree Rodkin cultivated her fine diamond and precious metal collections for a distinctly unique look – a modern-meets medieval style that offers more conservative looks for the risk averse and very edgy pieces for those who want to risk it all.
And now with items that will be housed in the Smithsonian from the presidential inauguration ball, Rodkin has cemented her place in American history. Find these and other groundbreaking styles at Hirshleifers.
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