The Black & Blue Jewelry Company was founded in 2007 by designer and Creative Director Asher Hoffman and his friends and colleagues Benjamin and Charles Siebenberg to take advantage of Hoffman's creativity, as well as his in-depth knowledge and technical expertise. The pieces in the collection are a balance of the design and careful technical planning that has set the line apart since its inception.
Every single piece is designed in the NYC design studio and broken down into the exact specifications. Designing in New York is an important detail. As the line has grown, this dedication has kept something very special alive in every piece the company produces.
Designs can sometimes take weeks to complete only to then take another three months before a first sample, or prototype is completed. In many cases, this envelope-pushing process uncovers concepts and idea that set new precedents in jewelry design and manufacturing. The daunting task of developing the collection falls onto a partnership with decades of jewelry experience. This partnership extends from design, to manufacturing to retail and takes advantage of the best and brightest in the industry today. The Black&Blue Jewelry Co. also spends a great deal of time working with others and collaborating on a variety of jewelry related projects. The flexibility to apply the design and manufacturing expertise into several different directions has allowed the company to continue being a traditional jewelry house in the most nontraditional ways.
Asher Hoffman, the Co-Founder and Creative Director of the Black & Blue Jewelry Company, began making jewelry when he was just twelve years old. "I remember making tiny little pieces in my grandfather's woodshop, and then using scraps of matte board from my uncle's painting studio to make pieces," he says. This early creativity led, in short order, to apprenticeships, followed by a B.F.A. from the prestigious School for American Craft, in Rochester, New York.
Hoffman has spent the last decade creating and pushing the edge of jewelry for the likes of Andin International, David Yurman , and the Simmons Jewelry Company, where he created a men's line for entertainment and fashion mogul Russell Simmons. He's also collaborated with or consulted for companies and people like Fred Wilson, Sony, Judith Leiber, Violette, Dee&Rickey, Invisible Children, The Summit Series, Fuck Cancer, Anna Sheffield, Scott Campbell, Trouble Andrew, Movado, House of Waris and Devon. In 2007 he co-founded Black & Blue, a varied and distinctive collection of jewelry and watches using alternative metals. He resides in New York's East Village.