 As a child Hovey adored her mothers great sense of style and always loved the visits to the tailors and jewelers. She was also enchanted by the eclectic designs and custom furniture her father, an interior designer, created for their home. Hovey has a degree in music as well as library science, but jewelry making has been a part of her life since her teenage years and she has earned the Gemological Institute of America's AJP certificate. With the constant encouragement and support from her friends and family, Hovey launched her jewelry line in 2005 and instantly captured the attention of the fashion and art communities. She was selected by Gen Art Fresh Faces in Fashion as the accessory designer in that same year. Hovey's collection is inspired by both design forms and by world cultures. She studies the essential design elements from different ethnic styles and fuses them with her California sensibility to create a stylish, interesting, and fresh look. To contact Hovey, please write to info@hoveylee.com.
Giving Back
Hovey Lee supports several different charities, including UNICEF, Project Angel Food and Stand Up To Cancer.
UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care.
Project Angel Food's mission is to nourish the body and spirit of men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers and staff cook and deliver free and nutritious meals prepared with love throughout Los Angeles County, acting out of a sense of urgency because hunger and illness do not wait.
Stand Up To Cancer is a new initiative created to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. SU2C's goal is to bring together the best and the brightest in the cancer community, encouraging collaboration instead of competition. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.
What Sets Us Apart ...
We thrive to reflect our customers' interest in designs by offering thoughtful, inspired and meaningful pieces that are personal and timeless. Hovey Lee implements the principles of socially and economically responsible business by working with fair trade vendors and eco-friendly material producers.
We believe in celebrating our heritage and rejoicing in multiculturalism, a quality we constantly try to communicate in our collections.
We believe each woman is unique and her mood and style changes day to day. That's why we do not confine ourselves to one signature look.
We believe minimalism is overrated.
We believe in nourishing your heart first, showing and accepting kindness, and in both designs and business, we follow our hearts, not rules.
Our Carefully Sourced Materials
At Hovey Lee we are committed to promoting fair trade, human dignity and environmental sustainability before profits. Our materials are sourced from the gemstone suppliers that adhere to fair trade sourcing standards. These standards ensure that these gifts from nature are brought to the customer in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible way that cares not only for the materials but the people who are involved in the process. Fair trade standards uphold labor conditions and workers’ rights, environmental protection, product integrity and supply chain transparency from gemstone mining, cutting, to processing. It is our social obligation to continually respect basic human rights around the world and to protect the environment by conserving energy and recycling. We strongly advocate and support the non-profit organizations that are dedicated to increasing the responsible practices of gemstone miners. All of our gemstones come from fair trade companies that only source their stones from environmentally and socially-responsible mines throughout the world. Besides sourcing new gemstones, Hovey Lee Los Angeles studio continues to use components extracted from vintage jewelries and recreate new designs with recycled findings and metals.
Our Jewelry Making Process
Hovey Lee works with local jewelry manufacturer that sources 100% recycled metals from recycling center. By using renewed metals, our goal is to reduce the need for additional mining of precious metals that could be very harmful to our environment. By upholding the Fair Trade Federation and the No Dirty Gold campaign guidelines, we hope to reflect the values of our customers around the country who have a deep commitment to human rights and the environment. Photos below show the raw recycled metals used in making our jewelry.
As artisan jewelry maker, we use various wiring, beading, metalsmithing and finishing techniques to create beautiful enduring jewelry while maintaining the product’s zero toxicity profile. Natural fair trade stones, vintage and reused materials accent and compliment the designs. We curate and feature found objects and use a variety of estate jewelry parts to create one-of-a-kind treasures. Buttons, beads, appliqué, and estate jewelry are renewed and transformed into delicately tongue-in-cheek works of wearable art.
Jewelry has a language of it's own. Here are some of the terms you'll see used throughout the site:
Forging shaped by repeated hammering against something hard like an anvil. We love the variety of textures this technique brings to the piece. It is our favorite way to show the hand-worked quality of our jewelry.
Fabrication applies to the structures by cutting, shaping and assembling components made from raw materials. Fabrication is a primary technique in the making of jewelry and is applied on many pieces you see here on HoveyLee.com.
Raising is a metalworking technique when a sheet of metal is curved by repeated hammering and annealing of the metal to form the desired shape. Synclastic raising, the dominant curves of the object being forged are at right angles and move in the same direction. Anticlastic raising, on the other hand, refers to shaping an object where the dominant axes move in opposite directions.
Casting is a process by which the metal is introduced into a mold, allowed to solidify within the mold, and then broken out to make a fabricated part. Casting is used for making parts of complex shape that would be difficult to make by cutting from the metal.
Karat Gold pure gold being designated as 24k. The gold more commonly sold in the market are 22k, 18k, 14k and 10k. A lower karat indicates that a higher percent of copper or silver in the alloy, with copper being the more commonly used metal.
Gold-filled Most Gold filled jewelry is composed of a solid layer of gold bonded to the outside of a base metal such as brass. Our high quality gold-filled pieces have the look, luster, and beauty of real 14 karat gold.
Vermeil is a combination of sterling silver, gold, and other precious metals. Our vermeil jewelry is sterling silver coated with 22k or 18k gold.
Healing Gemstones - by Phylameana lila Desy, certified in Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki and the Science of Intuition from the Holos Institutes of Health.
Gemstones are delightful to give or receive as gifts. They are mother nature's natural healers. Gifting someone with a crystal is the same as offering a healing. There are hundreds of different types of stones to choose from but here are the more common ones and at Hovey Lee we often incorporate these natural stones in our designs.
Rose Quartz has a gentle energy. It is a heart healer of physical heart ailments as well as emotional heartbreaks. Rose quartz is a timely gift to offer someone who desires to learn self-love.
Fluorite comes in a variety of colors. Fluorite is a beneficial stone to help guard one against picking up negativity or negative energies from those nearby. Basically, the stone absorbs any negativity, keeping it at bay. It is important to cleanse it at least once a week when you are using it as a protective helper.
Lapis -Egyptian energy. Lapis is a stone that has been said to unlock mysteries as it helps one move through confusion and emotional blocks and dig through fog/muck to the root of problematic issues.
Hematite is a grounding stone. This silver-gray metallic gemstone is often used as a grounding tool to aid those who tend to avoid worldly tasks/events by out-of-body flight.
Jade teaches acceptance. Carries serene and calming energy. It helps a person become less critical of self and others.
Amethyst, this highly spiritual/healing stone is associated with The Christ Consciousness and the Violet Flame of Transmutation. Amethyst helps one tune into a higher awareness of knowing.
Turquoise is a teaching stone can be used to help one learn spiritual lessons through meditation and/or dream visions. My first turquoise was a stone set in a silver ring my grandmother gave me as a souvenir she picked up for me when she vacationed in Arizona. It's little wonder that my grandmother has served as one of my spiritual advisors from the other side since her transition from the physical realm.
Kyanite is best worn near the throat chakra. This blue crystal helps facilitate channeling and will open communications centers to enable contact with your guides and angels. Kyanite is probably best known for its balancing properties that align the chakras. There is no need to cleanse this stone, it clears itself automatically of negative energies.
Obsidian -All varieties of obsidian are good utilized as grounding and protective agents - The snowflake in particular helps us surrender or let go of negative habits or past pathways that no longer the present condition.It will bring about opportunity for change, serenity, and clarity.
Citrine is a wonderful yellow stone. It helps to manifest your goals. Also keeps one cheerful. It attracts abundance and personal power.
|
| 
