About Us

Jewelry is the medium where I manifest visions and hopes into an artistic craftsmanship

 

OUR FOUNDER

Combining Istanbul’s Middle-Eastern influence with modern aesthetics of New York, Meri Lou Jewelry is handcrafting elegant heirlooms using 14K ecological gold and bringing earth as an ornament of inspiration.

Meri Lou Jewelry is an elegant, earth-oriented, fine jewelry brand created by New York based designer Meri Kohen Gershman. The work is deeply rooted in sustainable practices while respecting Meri Lou’s master craftsmen at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. The New York born brand perpetuates gold into timeless, poetic, uninhibited pieces that convey a narrative in action.

Our Story:

A vivid memory that remains with designer is being five years old, finding a turtle where she was playing, and throwing it out. The regret that came from that day affected her so much that she would never hurt animals. The Earth collection is in part dedicated to her love for animals. Most of the pieces at her collections have animal textures and figures. Meri Lou dedicated most of the pieces in the collection to idea of preventing forest fires which in the recent years  were by most accounts larger than in previous history, with increased extreme weather caused by climate change.

Meri had a strong passion for art and design since her early ages. She studied Design and Performing Arts Management and designed for world leading brands like Zara, H&M, Top Shop, among others for years. She is deeply influenced and inspired by Viennese painter Gustav Klimt’s works. Her collections consist of many similar elements as gold, flowers, evil eyes, serpents, frills and love.

Meri Lou Jewelry Pieces have been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Tatler, Conde Nast Traveler and many others, some of our bestseller pieces has been shown on NYFW.

  

 

OUR VALUES

Sustainability:

Meri Lou Jewelry pieces are made from 14kt gold sourced exclusively from Istanbul Gold Refinery that has Good Delivery Refinery Status certified by COMEX, LMBA and DMCC. At all stages of production, Meri Lou Jewelry prioritizes environmental care.  There is very little waste created during our jewelry-making process. Any cut-offs from our castings go back into our raw materials mix to be reused in the next product, ensuring a sustainable approach at each step.

 

 

Artisanality:

At Meri Lou Jewelry 100% of our products are handcrafted by only 5 artisan craftsmen in Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We control each step of production to achieve the highest and most consistent quality.

We only use silver and gold at Meri Lou Jewelry atelier. So we ensure the high quality products as well as to seek to minimize the environmental impact. We do not use Nickel and Cobalt as they are carcinogenic, potential allergens and harmful to human body.

Giving Back:

Giving back is one of our core missions at Meri Lou Jewelry. Our founder's deep love for children inspires Meri Lou to donate 10% of every purchase to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We dream for all the children to be cured and to return to their homes.