At Suzanne Kalan, Business is a Family Affair
Meet Suzanne Kalan and learn how she took her business from a small operation in her apartment to the global brand it is today.
Suzanne Kalan has always been surrounded by jewelry. “My father had a jewelry store downtown [in NYC], where I worked for almost 10 years,” she tells Only Natural Diamonds. Not only did she grow up in a jewelry store, but she also married into a jewelry family—her husband’s family had a diamond setting business in New York City. And today, her entire family is involved in the Suzanne Kalan business, from designing the pieces to photographing them for the website.
Known for her firework collection and use of baguettes, Suzanne Kalan creates jewelry for every woman, for any occasion. Ahead, get to know the designer behind the brand, where her inspiration comes from, and what it’s really like working with family.
Meet the Expert
- Suzanne Kalan is a jewelry designer based in Los Angeles with 35 years of experience in the industry
- She redefined the use of baguette-cut diamonds, introducing the now-iconic “Fireworks” design that has captivated jewelry lovers around the world
- She has won awards for her designs and has dressed celebrities on countless red carpets
Suzanne Kalan, The Early Years
Only Natural Diamonds: How did you get started in the jewelry world?
Suzanne Kalan: It’s a long story, but basically, the whole thing happened by accident. I worked for my father for almost ten years, selling very basic jewelry. Eventually, I got married. I was the type of person who was constantly busy working six days a week, always doing something, long hours. All of a sudden, I was married, pregnant, and had my daughter.
And Patile [my daughter] was a very easy baby, constantly taking naps during the day, and long hours sleeping at night. So, I ended up with free time, which is unusual for a new mom, I think, [laughter], so I felt I needed to do something. I started making fashion jewelry for myself and for my sister.
OND: How did you end up turning that into a full-fledged business?
Kalan: People would stop us and ask where we got it from. Eventually, one store owner asked me to make a small collection for her, and that’s how the whole business started, with that one little store. A friend of my brother’s was a jewelry rep selling sterling silver to department stores. She said she would be able to sell these designs if I made them in sterling silver, so I did that.
My father helped me price the line. I had no idea how to do that. After that, we started getting orders. My husband was a diamond setter; he had his own business with his father and brother, who were also jewelers, so they had access to manufacturing, which they helped me with. We were working from our apartment. Eventually, we moved my daughter into our bedroom, so we had more space to work. Then my brother started joining us. So, most of the orders were filled by me, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my brother.
OND: It sounds like a true family affair!
Kalan: Yes. The company grew, orders grew, so we ended up moving to an office. Then, about ten, twelve years ago, I started working with baguettes, which were my favorite cut of stone. They’re so beautiful and edgy and wearable. I was playing with a big parcel and then I just looked at the whole parcel loose on the desk and I thought ‘oh my god, look at this, they’re all going in different directions, and everything looks so beautiful just the way they are, like fireworks.’ So that’s how the whole fireworks collection started. One thing led to another, and it just grew and exploded.
Suzanne Kalan’s Design Inspiration
OND: The collection really is a firework! What else inspires your designs when you’re creating pieces?
Kalan: It always starts when I think of something that I need or I’m missing from my collection, something I’d like to have. Then I’ll go gem shopping, which is a lot of fun, and I’ll see great diamonds in different shapes, which gives me ideas of how things should be made. And sometimes I just buy stones and keep them in the safe for years until the time is right.
OND: That’s a good ethos to live by as a designer— what do you feel like you want, and that’s probably what your customer wants too.
Kalan: Yeah, exactly. And then sometimes I meet customers and people say things, and that gives you ideas too.
OND: How would you describe the Suzanne Kalan customer? What are they looking for?
Kalan: We are so involved as a family—my daughter is younger, I am older, my needs are different from hers—so we work as a team, figuring out what every customer wants. I look at everybody, and most of our employees are women, and I watch them, and I see how they live. Our customer is me, my daughter, and my employees—women of different ages who love jewelry and wear it with anything. There’s no specific rule for how we should wear our pieces. You don’t leave your jewelry in the safe; you need to wear it. After spending that kind of money, just keep on using it.
OND: Yeah, get that cost per wear.
Kalan: Anything I buy, anything I buy, I think, ‘Am I going to be able to use this enough?’ And if you make a decent investment, I think that’s really important.
OND: Do you have any favorite classic pieces from your collections?
Kalan: I always have favorite pieces, but one of my very favorites is my 36-inch tennis diamond necklace. It’s a lot of diamonds, it’s expensive, but it’s also practical. It’s so easy to wear day or night. You could dress it up, dress it down. If I wear that necklace in the evening, then I’m usually wearing it by itself. I could double it, and it looks great, depending on the outfit I have. Or in the daytime, I have this blackened chain necklace with a drop from a friend designer of mine, and I wear that with the diamond necklace, which dresses it down. It’s so versatile and wearable.
How Suzanne Kalan Works With Family
OND: Because your company started as a family affair, do you see yourself passing operations down to your daughter one day?
Kalan: She is involved, so is my son, and my husband still runs production. Once we moved into an office, he left his business, and we started growing this together. The kids were in the business since they were little, since we would bring them to the office after school.
OND: So they grew up with the business?
Kalan: Yes, my daughter eventually started designing the 14K collection, and my son is our creative, taking the photos, creating the website, that’s his department.
OND: Do you feel it’s easier working with family because you can just say whatever you’re thinking, and you’re not going to offend anybody?
Kalan: No, actually, it’s harder working with family. [laughter] You have to be super careful. If someone comes in as an employee, then they know that this is their job, but with family, it’s tougher. I think my husband and I are a good example; we respect each other’s territory. The way we speak to each other, especially in front of people, we just don’t blurt out everything. We act like we’re not family; we’re partners in this. Respect is the most important, and that makes it easier. As long as you understand what the other person’s job is, you don’t butt in and tell them what to do, and respect their opinion. This is what has worked for us.
Why Suzanne Kalan Uses Natural Diamonds
OND: Why is it important for you to use natural diamonds, and what makes natural diamonds special in your eyes?
Kalan: It comes down to time and all the years spent making the piece, specifically, the millions of years it took for the diamond to become a diamond. I love history. I love things that are old that have survived. I think of how many years the necklace I’m wearing has been around. I feel the same about diamonds.
OND: Anything new or exciting coming up for the brand that you can share?
Kalan: I’ve been doing one-of-a-kind pieces here and there for a long, long time, but I am more and more into making one-of-a-kind pieces, which I enjoy. We’re focused on certain classics that have been selling over and over and over again, but the one-of-a-kinds have been so popular. People love having a piece of their own that no one else has, so that’s been great.
