Like beaded waterfalls draping the body, James Murray Jewelry ranges from the fun and flirty to the dark and gothic. Designer James Murray has been styling photoshoots since the early 1990’s, but couldn’t find the jewelry he envisioned while on set. This lead to him creating his own, and from there everything took off. He began making pieces for friends and family, and growing interest lead to him selling in a variety of retail stores and creating jewelry for runway shows such as Vera Wang, Rebecca Danenberg, and Gottex. Featured in Glamour and In Style magazines, he has also made pieces for pop star Nadia Ali, Cindi Crawford, Good Morning America, Jacqueline Smith, and Lara Flynn Boyle. The multi-talented designer is currently working on some jewelry for a film that is slated to begin filming in august.

“I am fortunate to have so much to inspire me,” says James Murray, “New York itself is an endless source of beauty – its glittering buildings, restaurants and the men and women who live here. I’m fascinated by the complexities and contradictions we see every day! The vegan who chain smokes, the hotshot lawyer who takes off in the middle of the day to finger paint with her child, the frenetic creative director putting doing a million things at once while her smile flirts to a man across the street whom she won’t see again – it’s great.”

“Women in New York pay a lot of attention to their accessories even when they are simple. Adding something that is classic, like glass pearls, but amping up the glamour factor is what I like. You can wear the Anna necklace to the ballet or with your t-shirt and jeans out to dinner. The “rules” for what is street wear and what is evening wear have become a lot more fluid and my designs are in concert with that. A crystal Burst bracelet may be worn next to a Cartier watch or a Sanskrit tattoo—and both are great.”

And not everything in the collection is high couture. Many of his pieces are now on sale for $25 and under, like these beautiful Swarovski Crystal and Glass Bead Earrings (Blue), $18 (above). See the full collection and shop at JamesMurrayJewelry.com.

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