Michal Golan

Michal Golan is an Israeli-born New York artist whose jeweled hamsas, evil eyes and mezuzahs are made by hand in her Hell's Kitchen studio.

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Based: New York City
Since: 1982
Craft: Handmade jeweled metalwork

Michal Golan came to jewelry as an artist first. Born in Haifa, Israel, she moved to the United States in her twenties to study art, and sold her jewelry at craft fairs to support herself while earning a master's in studio art at NYU.

Demand grew quickly, and in 1982 she launched Michal Golan Jewelry. Her husband, Michael, joined her, and they moved the company out of their apartment into a studio in a Hell's Kitchen brownstone. She designs every piece, and a small team of artisans, most of whom have worked with her for more than twenty years, recreates each one by hand to order. She still makes ceramics and illustration, too.

Each piece starts on a sterling silver or 24K gold-plated brass base, then gets layered with semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals, glass cabochons and freshwater pearls. Her Judaica includes hamsa and evil eye necklaces, bracelets and earrings, Tree of Life pieces, wall hamsas and handmade mezuzahs.