About Maggie

Hinchliffe Jewelry originated in 2016 by jewelry designer, Maggie Hinchliffe. She has been making jewelry for 18 years and has been working in the jewelry industry for 16.

 

 

Maggie’s creative spark showed itself quite early in life. Even as a young girl, she developed a love and appreciation for Mother Nature. She was blessed with parents who took her hiking all over the US, as well as a paleontologist-godmother who exposed her to remote parts of our beautiful country that most people never get the opportunity to experience. As she has grown, so has her love for art and her creative take of nature in art. But she is the first to admit to loving all things that sparkle and shine.

Maggie formally started her journey into the art world at The Fashion Institute of Technology where she studied fundamentals of drawing and painting. During her second year, she lost her great uncle, Stanley Zukowski, who was a well-known costume jewelry designer in the sixties and seventies. His longstanding business was known by the moniker, “Jewels by Stanlee”. His passing inspired Maggie to further her study of jewelry, and that took her to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (“UMD”). UMD gave her all the tools and education necessary to become a metalsmith designer. Then, almost accidently, she fell in love with enameling. Enameling, she found, enabled her to combine her love of painting with jewelry. For a decade now she has created custom, one-of- a-kind enamel pieces.

Upon graduating from UMD, Maggie returned to her home town of Huntington, NY and worked in a high-end jewelry store. Over the course of nine years, Maggie has gained valuable retail experience in the demanding world of jewelry, in addition to an understanding of managing a business. She fell in love with redesigning pieces for clients, especially making older outdated jewelry into new spectacular beauties. Assisting clients with jewelry purchases, which would serve as commemorative pieces that connected to clients’ life milestones, was a true gift for Maggie to be a part of.

In 2012, while still working at the store, Maggie returned to school for further education and training at the Gem Institute of America, (“GIA”).  Maggie became certified in colored stones and diamonds, and expanded her repertoire of abilities as a Graduate Gemologist. Maggie then became the primary appraiser for the entire collection of jewels sold at the Huntington store. After nine years, Maggie felt like she was reaching a creative plateau in jewelry making, and decided it was time to fulfill her dream of owning her own jewelry company.

Make no mistake, Maggie loves creating enamel jewelry but she wanted to get back to her roots in metals and sculpting endeavors when starting this company. She is so excited about the launch of four new lines, all of which represent a different part of her.

The first, and closest to her heart, is the “Vanda Collection”. Vanda is Sanskrit for a rainbow orchid. This collection was inspired by her annual trips to the world-renowned Bronx Botanical Gardens. Drawn to the amazing and varied orchids on display, she has captured more than one thousand pictures, each of which serve as creative inspiration, which she then transforms into physical jewelry.

Maggie has a pet turtle whom she adores and is the inspiration behind her second line “The Terrapin Collection”. Terrapin means water turtle. Maggie has had her turtle, Donny, for ten years, and Donny has become an unmistakably huge muse for Maggie’s jewelry design. Maggie draws Donny and the shapes in her shell which in turn become wearable art.

The third line, “Hinchliffe Staples”, is a collection of various pieces that are deeply imbedded with symbolic meaning for Maggie. Aspects of Maggie’s Irish heritage are showcased through intricately carved crosses and delicate spirals. In addition, she has jewelry inspired by her favorite flower “the bleeding heart.” It’s emotional and beautiful shape are captured into necklaces that are truly a work of art.

Finally, her last line is the “Color Allure Collection” which reflects her love for gemstones. Various colored gemstones are simply showcased in earrings and necklaces that can be worn casually with a single piece, or layered for an elegant, formal look.

Maggie hopes you love and enjoy all she creates. She encourages you to have fun with her jewelry, as all the collections are made to be interchangeable. She loves layering jewelry, and each collection is created with the expectation that her clients will enjoy mixing and matching their pieces in order to create their own unique look.

Maggie Ann Hinchliffe lives in Long Island with her family and believes in living each day to its fullest and appreciates all that life gives us. She enjoys having new adventures, anything that has glitter on it, the dripping of paint, and making costumes. She will make any excuse to dress up and play pretend.

Please feel free to contact her for any additional information or custom requests. She asks for your patience while creating your hand made pieces and welcomes Instagram selfies and photos.