Gabrielle Bratton Hall

Jewelry Designer

Gabe grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and as a child, she was obsessed with making things. “I wasn’t very good at sitting still unless I was doing something with my hands. That’s how I got hooked on making jewelry,” she muses.

The texture of Gabe’s jewelry has a certain je ne sais quoi, a timelessness preserved through the art of casting—a technique whereby metal is poured into a mold and cooled, leaving a perfect copy in the form of an extractable cast. Through casting, Gabe is able to give vintage fabrics–like lace, burlap, and brocade–a second life as couture jewelry. 

As a kid, there was a cool little bead store within walking distance to Gabe’s high school. She’d pick up materials, make jewelry, and give her pieces away to her friends. As her work became more popular, she eventually ran out of both materials and money.

“My dad said, ‘Why don't you just take a hundred bucks, and then you can sell it from there, maybe mark it up a little bit to make the work sustainable.’” At age 15, Gabe opened her first bank account and launched her business.

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“I wasn’t very good at sitting still unless I was doing something with my hands. That’s how I got hooked on making jewelry.”

In college, Gabe was drawn to study art at the University of Georgia’s renowned Jewelry and Metalwork program. While working as a TA for studio, Gabe had time to experiment with a variety of techniques and materials. A lover of texture, Gabe began manipulating metals with burlap—the material she cast for her thesis and the technique she uses to make her iconic pieces today.

After college, Gabe moved to Charleston where she set up shop for a while before moving to the Bay Area via Raleigh. She’s been in San Francisco now for about six years and operates an all-women jewelry design studio in the Laurel Heights area.

These days, Gabe works mostly with lace. “Lace tells more of a story than any other fabric,” she notes while describing her current projects, one of which is casting her grandmother’s wedding veil.

Notably, Gabe has partnered with bridal designer and retailer Lela Rose with the anticipated launch of a special collection in April of 2022.

Why is design or creativity important to you?

School was really tough for me because I wasn't good at learning traditional classroom things, but I always felt comfortable in design. It was just a natural thing for me. My parents knew I wasn’t the best student but that I had this other aptitude. They were really good at making sure that—after I finished what I needed to for school—I could go to a creative arts class, like ceramics or painting or weaving, and have that outlet. So it was really nice knowing that I could dig into creative work and find the validation and comfort there that I couldn’t in other places.

What was your turning point as a creative person?

Probably knowing I could make a living off of it. I mean, honestly, I've always loved making things. Even in middle school, I would make my own clothes. 

In Raleigh, we have a family business with rock quarries, and it's a pretty tough business work-wise. One summer, my older brother and I were both home working–I made jewelry and then had a show at the end of the summer, and he worked at the quarry from like 6:00 AM to 6:30 PM doing hard labor. I made more in just that one show than he did working the entire summer. I remember having this epitome, like, ‘Huh… Okay, so I can actually have a successful business doing what I love.’ 

Knowing that I could really make it my day-to-day was such a validating thing for me. And, it’s another level of validation for someone to give you money for something you made and wear it on their body for a special occasion. I love that. When somebody has me make something for their wedding, that's the biggest compliment I can get. 

Which values most inform your work?

slow fashion & transparency

Definitely slow fashion and design. I don't follow release schedules in the same way that traditional fashion brands do. I love thoughtful, locally-made work. I also love good materials, so I like to go off my buying trips or when I have a new lace or material that I'm inspired by. 

I also like to try to take my time. I get so excited sometimes that I'm ready to just jump in and have something made, but I'm happiest when I lay pieces out and really think about them for a while. It's a slow process, but I find it to be really therapeutic and relaxing. 

I also appreciate transparency. I'm not a pusher in terms of selling stuff. I like to work with clients that are organically drawn to my work and want to know how the piece connects to them—people who want to know the story of where it came from and how it was made. 

“When somebody has me make something for their wedding, that's the biggest compliment I can get.”

Describe a piece of jewelry that has created a profound impact on you or your work.

My grandmother had such beautiful jewelry and she was really good at passing it along and telling you exactly the significance of each piece. She’d share anecdotes about when her dad gave her this pearl bracelet for her 16th birthday, or when her friends gave her that piece of jewelry one time at dinner. 

I remember going through her jewelry box and looking at the charms on her charm bracelet. I’d ask her where each one came from and she knew everything about it, even the occasion it was given. I loved learning about each charm and piecing the stories together along the way. So that charm bracelet just sticks out.

Where do you find inspiration?

I love Polly Wales. She does this casting-in-place process where she throws a bunch of stones in her waxes, and then direct casts all the stones in there. Not to get too technical, but you can only do that with red, white, and blue stones. That means ruby, sapphire, and diamonds are the only stones that can take heat like that. It requires a deep understanding of the technique.

It’s kind of like, once you know the rules, you can break them. She’s totally crushed it. I just love how she has fun with her colors, her designs, and her settings (or lack of settings). I have such a girl crush on her.

How do you nurture creativity?

As a business owner, this is something I'm constantly trying to learn how to do. You know, you have to have the discipline to get stuff done to run the business, and so sometimes it's hard to nurture creativity in the midst of that.

When I am inspired, I’ve learned to allow myself more time to play with the design process. It’s a balancing act between the need to keep moving forward and the desire to give space for that process. 

If I really hit a wall, I try to change up my surroundings. I’ll go walk around or visit a cool little shop. I was just in Tuscon and visited this really inspiring shop called Bon. Going treasure hunting is just a happy place for me. 

I also have a cyclical rhythm in my business now that’s really working for me. I'll do design work for six weeks, then it's the making, the cleanup, then the shoots, and getting it online. After that, it's getting it out to shows or out for retail. I'll do that for a month to six weeks at a time, then come back and start the process again. It’s just the natural rhythm that allows me to get my people fix and be out, and then kind of crawl back into my little space and get back to the design part.

What does being productive look like for you?

I have to have a very clean space or else I just want to procrastinate and clean. Because I like to have everything laid out on a large surface so I can visualize it, I’m always running out of surface area. I just need shelves on shelves on shelves surrounding me. My mom would laugh because she told me how—as a kid making jewelry in the basement at home—I would sit in the middle and have all of this stuff surrounding me, like round and round.

So yeah, I have to lay everything out; I have to see it and the hardest part is just sitting down to do it. It's like going for a run. The most challenging part is just getting yourself out the door.

What are your three favorite objects and why?

1. My wedding band. It was made by an antique jeweler that I just love: Bell & Bird.

2. A painting that was given to me as a wedding gift from my Mom’s best friends. It’s by Sallie Benton.

3. I have one of my grandfather’s sweaters and I have a little bit of his cologne that I put on it.

What’s your hidden superpower?

I can find four-leaf clovers really easily. I've probably found a thousand in my life just walking out and about.

I played soccer growing up and I would go stretch next to a Clover patch and pick them out and then give one to everybody before the game to put in their shin guard for luck.

I like giving them to people because I think it shares a little luck, love, and thoughtfulness. It's my little thing and it is so therapeutic for me; I could do it for hours

How are you leveraging design or creativity to create change?

I try to nourish young people that might be interested in jewelry making. I went to an all-girls high school and they offered this internship program that was really impactful for me.

For the internship, I went to New York and worked with a jeweler up there. I’ll never forget how she treated me like I was an adult. She was running her own small business out of her house in the city. I admired her so much and I was really appreciative of someone who would take a minute to show me something and share their craft.

I try to be that mentor for girls and offer internships at my studio or engage in programs that provide learning opportunities for young people. 

Connecting with Gabe…

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