Emily Hirsch of Talon NYC

No Other Heart Lock necklace by Talon. Photo courtesy Emily Hirsch, ©2019 Talon NYC.   Earlier this year, Forbes featured Talon Jewelry as a brand to watch in 2019. I couldn’t agree more. Founder Emily Hirsch has stepped outside the box to create deeply meaningful jewelry infused with ancient symbolism and secret words. She describes her work as darkly romantic. Each piece is a mystical talisman infused with an urban aesthetic and the vital energy of her creativity. Emily named the gorgeous pendant featured here the Heart Lock pendant, part of her Love, Death, and Rebirth collection. Inspired by antique padlock jewelry, the Heart Lock pendant features the words No Other engraved on the back. Worn close to the heart, this romantic gift is meant to be given to the one who has captured your devotion. Easily clasped within the hands, the pendant reminds the one who wears it that he or she is loved with utmost devotion.  

Meet Emily Hirsch, Founder of Talon

Emily Hirsch grew up on a vast and wild vineyard in the countryside of Mendocino, California. Raised by hippie parents and grandparents deeply connected to the earth, I imagine Emily running wild through the Redwoods, creating secret gardens wherever she went. I see her hunkered down, observing the flora and fauna closely, breathing in the rich aromas of the forest, and communing with the nymphs and fairies, quite possibly without even realizing it. A child left to her own imaginations, Emily describes the dramatic summer thunderstorms and the wild winds and winter rains of her childhood home. These infused her child’s mind with a deep and insatiable curiosity and deep love for the natural world. This love of the natural led her to study biology in college. Following graduation, she spent six months exploring the beaches and rainforests of Mexico and Costa Rica. Before trading the countryside for city life in New York, she spent time learning the California wine business. From day one, New York City began to weave its way into her soul, merging effortlessly its brownstone architecture and urban energy with her wild Bohemian upbringing. Not surprisingly, this starkly new environment catalyzed her creative energies. In 2007, she started Talon. Her first piece of jewelry, an aromatic amulet vial necklace. From there, she began releasing complete collections of jewelry, beginning with her Zodiac collection.  

Talon Jewelry

Zodiac Collection

This inaugural Talon collection features 12 signet rings and pendants featuring the 12 astrological signs of the Zodiac. Cast in silver and brass, these astrological jewels are meant to revitalize the medieval notion of family crests. As with a family crest, these rings and pendants allow their wearers to symbolically capture the essence of their identities. At once biographical and prophetic, these talismans offer the wearer an opportunity to represent themselves in the past, inform their present, and prophesy to their future. Wildly popular, Talon’s Zodiac Collection is worn by trendsetters like Sarah Jessica Parker, who wears her own personalized charm necklace, as well as a custom charm necklace featuring the four astrological symbols of her children.

Love, Death, and Rebirth Collection

The Heart Lock pendant featured in the photo above belongs to the Talon collection called Love, Death, and Rebirth. Inspired by the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, Emily Hirsch created her first piece just before a huge fire broke out near her home in Ojai. Evacuated from her home for a month, Emily felt a monumental connection to this collection. She soon added the Sacred Heart and Eternal Skull to the Rising Phoenix. Realizing that she now had Love, Death, and Rebirth represented, the next three symbols of this collection came forth quickly - the Heart Lock, the Luna Moth, and the Rose Pendant. Of course, the Sacred Heart represents devotion. Likewise, the Heart Lock represents the love we carry deep within. Of course, Rising Phoenix and the Luna Moth, encapsulate rebirth. In addition, the Luna Moth also represents metamorphosis. Meanwhile, the Rose Pendant calls to mind desire in all its manifestations. Finally, the Eternal Skull embodies both death and eternity. Once again, Emily infused this collection with both talismanic (protective) and prophetic powers. Just as she learned during her family's evacuation from their home, no one knows what the future will bring. However, when we wear a talisman, we comfort ourselves with the knowledge that our past, informing our present, provides us with the strength and wisdom we need for the future. (source)

Through the Shadows

With this collection, Emily Hirsch provides power jewels for those in search of courage and guidance. Through the Shadows features the Northern Star, as well as crescent moons, snakes, and swords. In this case, snakes represent our deepest fears. However, they also call to mind the wisdom of the ages. Traditionally, snakes were seen to represent rebirth, transformation, immortality, and even healing. By facing down our fears, tackling them head on, we have the opportunity to transform and heal ourselves. By combining the sword with the snake, Emily nudges the wearer toward this transformative process. Meanwhile, on the other side of transformation lies the uncertainty of a brand new future. Here, the crescent moon and Northern Star offer the guidance of the cosmos to light a brighter path into the future.

TALON Cœur

On her website, Emily describes TALON Cœur as her pinnacle collection. Centering on rubies, this fine jewelry collection calls to mind eternal devotion, encouraging the wearer to embrace the unity of spirit and heart. In addition to rubies, TALON Cœur also features diamonds, blue sapphires, and turquoise. With names like Marie, Lou, Julienne, Ines, and Margaux, one wonders about the beautiful people Emily had in mind as she created these elegant jewels.  

A Brand to Wear

In continuing my search for jewelry brands you can wear with pride in 2019, I feel privileged to add Talon to my growing list. Not only because Emily infuses every piece with love and deep meaning, but also because she commits herself to adopting sustainable practices in the creation and marketing of her jewelry. Not only does she offer a wide range of prices to satisfy almost any budget, all of her pieces are made by hand (with loving care, as she says), in Ojai and Los Angeles. Without hesitation, I offer you this opportunity to feast your eyes on the deeply meaningful jewelry available to you at Talon. ~Angela Magnotti Andrews