Water Is Everything The Daily Drop Meet Jewelry Designer Kate Davis
Meet Jewelry Designer Kate Davis
March 22, 2018
Kate Davis's jewelry line is inspired by the Charleston, South Carolina-based designer's deep love of the ocean. In celebration of her special collaboration with Everything But Water for our Water is Everything initiative, we asked about her passion for the sea, how nature fits into her life and what the cause means to her.
Everything But Water: Where did your love of the ocean come from?
Kate Davis: I used to watch Jacques Cousteau with my mom and was obsessed with underwater stuff and science. My mom loved science too and would use any extra money we had to send me on programs to learn about sailing and diving. When I was 18 I became a scuba instructor and worked all over the world - the Caribbean, South America, Australia, Egypt. In my 20s I met my husband in South Carolina, and he's a surfer and ocean-lover. Living in Charleston, we're a five-minute drive from the ocean and definitely a water family. We're at the beach a couple times a week. Sometimes I'll drop my son off at school and go out there to watch the sun rise. It's important for us to be outside and have a connection to the water. It keeps us sane.
Everything But Water: How does the ocean inspire you?
Kate Davis: I love the tiny things that people overlook. When I'm underwater, I could stay in one spot for the entire dive just looking at one area. It's great diving with sharks and dolphins, but I love the tiny stuff with interesting details and textures. My son will run up to me on the beach with shells that most people would throw back. There's beauty in the stuff that isn't perfect.
Everything But Water: How did you get started designing jewelry?
Kate Davis: I used to carry things around when I was working on boats as a dive instructor because it was something fun to do during the off time. When I moved to Charleston I was working in a marine biology lab and putting together pieces. People would say, "That's gorgeous, where did you get that? You should make more!" It started organically, with small trunk shows and vendors in Charleston. When I had my son, it made sense to stay home to work and raise him. There's a studio space under our house, which allows me to be here with him when he's home from school, but wander down and work later.
Everything But Water: What is your process like?
Kate Davis: I have tubs and tubs of shells. Sometimes they inspire a piece, but other times I have an idea and go looking for something to fit into it. We go to Nicaragua every year to surf and to the Keys and the Bahamas for diving trips. If I have an afternoon by myself I'll go snorkeling and just find stuff.
I do the soldering in my studio and set my own stones, and I've found other people who are experts at other specific elements. I work with a guy who does electro-plating - that's all he does and he lives 20 minutes away from me. A guy in New York does my casting.
Everything But Water: What does Water is Everything mean to you?
Kate Davis: Water is everything to me too. It is my home. I love that quote from Sylvia Earle, "Every time I slip into the ocean, it's like going home." I identify with that 1000%. Teaching diving, you'd see so much pollution in places you'd think would be pristine, but it's piles and piles of trash on these gorgeous islands and beaches. I always taught people, if you see trash at the bottom, pick it up. We've raised our son to be environmentally respectful. Every time we go out for a walk on the beach, we're constantly hauling back trash we've picked up.
You have to start big to get a trickle-down effect, and that's what Water is Everything is. Brands have a voice and can use their influence to inform and educate people. We can all adopt good, positive behavior so when other people see it, they'll hopefully pick it up too.
Everything But Water: What inspired this special collection?
Kate Davis: In the fall, Sabra [Krock, Everything But Water Co-Owner and Creative Director] reached out and said they wanted to do a couple of pieces inspired by the ocean and thought of us. She has amazing taste and a strong design aesthetic - we've co-designed a few pieces before. She came to Charleston in January, and when we sat down I brought some of the shells I'd collected thinking of her. We put our heads together and sketched things out.
We wanted a positive message about what the initiative was about and where they're coming from. Given how people are into personalizing jewelry right now, the messages felt appropriate. All the pieces are fashionable and fun and feel interesting, but have little pieces of the ocean within them.
