A passion for history, art and design started Dana Kiyomura on her career path as a jewelry dealer. Stints at Christie’s auction house in Los Angeles, Circa, and retailer Fred Leighton perfectly positioned her to start her New York-based business Keyamour, a curated collection of period antique fine jewelry from the Georgian era to contemporary signed jewelry.
“While I was working at Christie’s, I was promoted to administrative assistant in the jewelry department,” recalls Kiyomura. “I liked the people and I liked the jewelry. There were a lot of jewelry dealers at the auctions and I found it interesting to work with them. I was really immersed in the business and learned a lot about jewelry.”
A Love of History
Kiyomura specialized in American history while attending the University of California, Berkeley and earned a BA in history. However, she has recently began learning more about British history, “I read a lot about England from 1880 to right after World War II.”
Early in her career Kiyomura favored Art Deco jewelry and was drawn to it because of its geometry and simple lines. “While I was working at Fred Leighton I gained an appreciation for Victorian and Georgian jewelry. Now Victorian jewelry is my favorite. It spans a long time period and there are lots of elements to discover and learn about. Quality Victorian pieces can be very modern in design.”
As surprising as it sounds to say that Victorian jewelry can be modern, Kiyomura says that the key to wearing antique jewelry is to be creative and self-confident, which allows you to be open to the uniqueness and individuality of those pieces. “The right pieces are very wearable. You can dress them up or down,” explains Kiyomura. “We’re inundated by ads for modern brands of jewelry that show you how to wear and style jewelry, but you really have to know yourself in order to feel comfortable wearing antique jewelry.”
Tips for Wearing Antique Jewelry
So how do you wear antique jewelry? Kiyomura offers a few pointers to get you started.
- Purchase what speaks to you and your aesthetic. Have fun and don’t take it too seriously.
- Make one piece the focal point.
- If you have an elaborate necklace wear it with small cluster earrings or diamond solitaire earrings. If you want to look effortlessly cool wear it with jeans and a white button down shirt.
- A great way to wear a long chain is to double it and add a brooch by carefully sliding the pin of the clasp through the chain links. Wear the chain with the brooch on the side then it becomes more than just a pendant. If you want to add more than one brooch, cluster them together on the chain.
- Wear long, dangling earrings with no necklace, but instead wear a big bracelet and rings to balance the earrings and to avoid looking overdone.
- If you wear a big watch, wear bracelets on the other wrist to avoid damaging either the watch or the bracelet. You can wear a thin chain next to a watch. If you want to stack bracelets, stick to a theme.
Curating the Collection
When choosing jewelry for the Keyamour collection, Kiyomura considers a number of factors including whether she would wear the piece herself. “The design, beauty, importance and unique style of antique jewelry makes me feel more empowered and confident when I wear it, so I thought other women must feel the same.”
When she’s not out searching for and styling antique jewelry, Kiyomura’s other passion is cooking and the company of her dog, Whisky, a very adorable Lagotto Romagnolo. “Everyone in the industry knows that I’m a foodie, so other dealers often ask me where to eat when we are traveling,” she concludes noting that she started an Instagram account @keyamourcooks during the pandemic. “I’m an avid cook and I’m always thinking about what to cook next.”
Featured image (top of page): Dana Kiyomura
First: Pair of Georgian 15-karat gold and turquoise bracelets with vintage 1970s citrine and 18-karat gold bangle; Second: Antique rose cut diamond and 14-karat gold hand motif ear pendants, circa 1900; Third: Victorian enamel pansy brooch, signed Cartier, is attached to a gold long chain worn with an amethyst choker; Fourth: Emerald, diamond and platinum twin stone ring, circa 1910 worn with diamond and sapphire bracelet.
Authored by Amber Michelle