This region of ours is a wonderful place to be if you’re thirsty for beauty; it’s everywhere you turn, in many flavors. If you love the sparkling kind of beauty that comes about when humans lend their creativity to sapphire, ruby, and turquoise stones set in precious metals, you owe yourself a trip to Adel Chefridi Fine Jewelry Studio & Gallery in Rhinebeck. “ We’re primarily a design studio,” says Corinne Jacobson, who manages the store’s day-to-day while her business and life partner Chefridi designs and crafts the pieces. “The core of this work is searching for new expressions and helping people find unique manifestations for their innermost feelings, designing and making unique jewelry pieces inspired by the intercultural heritage of the human imagination and driven by contemporary lifestyle.”
Chefridi spent his childhood in the North African nation of Tunisia, in the seaside town of Carthage. Once the seat of a powerful empire, it’s world-renowned today for its ancient archaeological wonders. Growing up, Chefridi and his pals explored that landscape the way suburban kids in the US explore vacant lots and neighborhood woods. Tunisian elementary schools didn’t teach art, but time outside of school was spent immersed in freestyle creativity. “So when you’re a kid, you get home from school, throw down your books, and race out the door to go make stuff happen,” he says. “We didn’t have toys, so we made our own fun with fruit and nuts, sticks and shells. The ruins were our playgrounds. There was a lot to discover there, they weren’t fenced off or anything, and as we grew older we’d start consciously treasure hunting, looking for old coins and things.”
You owe yourself a trip to Adel Chefridi Fine Jewelry Studio & Gallery in Rhinebeck.
The do-it-yourself childhood kept intact Chefridi’s connection with the infinity pool of childlike creativity that he believes should be every human’s birthright. “Creativity is the natural, healthy state of humans—not in any one form, but the creative impulse itself,” he says. “Creativity belongs to everyone. We start out swimming in a sea of it, and as we get older and become more defensive, too often it gets choked off to a trickle.”
At 28, without a definite plan but with enormous eagerness, the man whose early years had been spent at the ancient crossroads of civilization headed for the modern-day one, arriving in New York City in 1998 with a small collection of ancient coins and creative dreams as old as time itself. It was on the DeKalb Avenue subway platform that he first saw Jacobson, then a newly minted entrepreneur. “I asked for directions; it was an excuse to say hello to her,” he says. “She was lovely about it, and luckily for me she had just started her business, so she was eager to get her business card around.”
“We’re primarily a design studio. The core of this work is helping people find unique manifestations for their innermost feelings” – Co-owner Corinne Jacobson
“It felt different than just giving a stranger your phone number,” Jacobson laughs. One thing led to another, and soon the pair were living together in Brooklyn. Chefridi felt deeply drawn to gemstones and to creativity, so he began experimenting and studied at the Gemological Institute of America and at the Studio Jewelers School. His work soon outgrew their Brooklyn apartment’s kitchen table. “Corinne helped me with all the technicalities of running a business,” says Chefridi. The first showroom was in Soho, and after years at various makers’ marts, he began working with retailers in 2008. Soon after, the pair relocated upstate, opening a shop in their hometown of Woodstock, then in Kingston, and finally finding the right spot in Rhinebeck. “Rhinebeck is the perfect place,” says Chefridi. “It’s full of people who admire and value beauty and creativity.”
“It’s our shared connection to creativity —art, music, dance, beauty— that can truly lead us to a better understanding.” – Co-owner Adel Chefridi
Locals who visit the store become devoted regulars. “One of my favorite jewelry stores on the planet, Adel takes such wonderful care creating each piece, they are as gorgeous as they are well-made,” writes a Google reviewer. “Prepare to spend a couple of hours poring over all of Adel’s beautiful pieces,” writes another. “I found the most beautiful ring in the showcase which I then tweaked with help from Adel and Annie (gemologist extraordinaire). They did not disappoint and I can’t stop looking at the ring on my f inger. Perfection! Thank you so much.”
Chefridi finds his bliss in discovering unique stones and prototypes of new designs; Jacobson finds hers in creating and maintaining an environment that’s inviting and respectful, where people “feel at ease as they discover and connect with jewelry and lifestyle items, whether they are treating themselves, finding a special gift, or preparing to make a lifelong commitment,” she says.
The two traveled to Jaipur, India’s jewelry capital, on a stone-finding mission early on; after that, Jacobson stayed stateside with the kids, but in the future they’d love to do some more gem-hunting journeys together, including visits to Carthage. “The world is a much more connected place than it was when I first came to New York,” says Chefridi, “and I think the potential of that is beautiful. It’s our shared connection to creativity—art, music, dance, beauty—that can truly lead us to a better understanding.”
adel chefridi fine jewelry studio & gallery
47 East Market Street, Rhinebeck
845-684-5185,
chefridi.com
