- Based
- Los Angeles, California
- Craft
- Gold and silver Jewish jewelry
Alef Bet began with a suggestion from family. Paula Brooks had been selling jewelry since the 1970s, from house parties and boutiques to a jewelry counter at every business she ran. When her son-in-law saw her cube-shaped alphabet beads and asked why she didn't make them in Hebrew, she did. The Hebrew letter block bead necklaces became her most popular item, so she named the line for the alphabet, and when customers kept asking "what else do you have?", the collection grew. The brand dates its founding to 1996.
Her daughter, Alissa Brooks-Haroush, helped fill orders in the evenings while at UCLA, and the two have designed together ever since. "This is a real family partnership," Paula has said. "Neither of us is more important or powerful than the other."
Their rule is that jewelry should mean something: Stars of David, chais, hamsas, evil eyes and Hebrew words, designed in Los Angeles in 14k gold and sterling silver, many with diamonds, and made to be worn every day. The Jewish Museum shop in New York has carried Alef Bet from early on.
Good to know
- The Jewish Museum (NY)longtime shop stockist; profiled in the museum's "Greater Goods" series (2020)
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