The jewelry of Philippa Roberts is featured at Smith Galleries

Philippa Roberts

The jewelry of Philippa Roberts is a mainstay at Smith Galleries on Hilton Head Island. The gallery is featuring a special exhibit of her jewelry as part of their 26th anniversary.

Philippa was born in South Africa to a jewelry making family, she was naturally drawn to working with metals and stones. She graduated from Miami University (in Ohio) with a BFA in Metal Design and Photography. With California calling, she moved to San Francisco in 1994 to begin her career in jewelry design. Philippa started out working for different designers to develop and hone her jewelry and business skills. In 1996 Philippa established her first studio in the basement of her San Francisco apartment building. What started as a small, hopeful business has developed into a large design studio and retail store. She now works from a studio attached to her shop in Oakland.

Philippa’s signature look is simple, organic shapes combined with beautifully cut gemstones. Her love of the ocean plays a large role in the selection of clean, blue and green stones in many of her pieces. Philippa’s creativity stems from the nature around her, yet she also incorporates a feeling of the urban, with lines and patterns that imitate architecture and design seen around the city. Philippa creates all the original pieces by carving in wax or fabricating in metal. Her selection of new stones for each season defines how her collections will come to life. “I love going to the gem shows and being inspired by all the stones I see. To put the colors together and develop a collection is one of my favorite parts of the job.” Once the pieces are ready for production, her team of skilled crafts people make each piece by hand in her Oakland studio.

Using silver as her main medium, Philippa creates necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings that can be worn formally or informally, with an appeal to all ages. “I love to hear from customers that mine is their favorite everyday jewelry, or that they have been wearing one of my pieces for the past ten years. It is my goal to make jewelry that is beautiful, simple, wearable, and most importantly, timeless.”

Philippa Roberts jewelry is carried in specialty shops around the world. It has been a dream come

Necklace and Earrings by Philippa Roberts

true for her to be featured in such esteemed art museums as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the DeYoung Museum, and the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. Philippa lives in Oakland with her husband, Brian and their daughter Charlotte.

Smith Galleries is located in suite J11 of the the Village at Wexford at 1000 William Hilton Parkway on Hilton Head Island. Gallery hours are 10 - 6 Monday through Saturday. 800.272.3870