Mish Tworkowski’s gorgeously crafted Mish New York collection of nature-inspired jewelry is both urbane and playful

At his townhouse boutique on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Mish Tworkowski, the designer behind the Mish New York collection of fine jewelry, creates whimsical, color-intense baubles that have captured the hearts (and wallets) of discerning socialites the world over. As a board member of the New York Botanical Garden, one of the city’s august institutions, he’s particularly drawn to plants and flowers, which he expertly renders in riotous pairings of colored stones inspired by the blooms of his own backyard. “Color-wise, I find gardening helpful,” Tworkowski says. “When you see two flowers together, you think, ‘What a great color combination.’”

Tworkowski is drawn to the natural world in all its manifestations. The Wakaya collection, for example, was conceived three years ago when he visited the Wakaya resort in Fiji. Rather than using the time for some much-needed rest and relaxation, he found himself designing nonstop. “Everywhere I turned, whether above or below the water, I was magically moved to capture it in sketches,” he writes in the introduction to the Wakaya catalogue, featuring textured, 18-karat gold jewels studded with super-saturated sapphires, tourmalines, tanzanites and diamonds, as vivid as the sea life that so captivated him.

Born in New Jersey of Polish heritage, Tworkowski was introduced to the business early on through family friends who owned a jewelry company. He studied art history at Rutgers University before joining Sotheby’s, where he spent 15 years admiring the workmanship of jewelers from the late 19th century to the 1940s. “Trying to emulate them now is probably the biggest challenge,” he says with typical modesty, even though it’s clear that he’s already succeeded.

The first piece of jewelry I ever made: A dogwood branch brooch for my mom. The kind of customer request I’ll never tire of: “Just use your imagination!” Design cliché I love: “Throw that on with a pair of jeans.” My favorite gemstone: Padparadscha sapphire. My favorite design era: Qing Dynasty (China). My favorite living designer: Claude Lalanne. One unusual detail about my design process: Il Divo. The craziest thing I’ve ever done for a client: Copied the tire treads from the client’s Ferrari for tuxedo studs. When I create a new collection: I daydream. If I were a city, I would be: Santa Barbara, Calif. The jewelry-related job I would least like to have: Jewelry trade show badge scanner (just teasing). While designing, my mind usually wanders to: A walk in a beautiful garden.

Eastern promises Aside from gardening, Mish Tworkowski finds inspiration in Asia, as seen in this golden South Sea and freshwater pearl lariat with red coral drops and 18-karat gold pagoda roof caps, Lotus brooch in 18-karat yellow and rose gold with diamonds and removable peridot, and 18-karat gold Asian charm bracelet.