Owned by two sisters with an affinity for jewelry, Doyle & Doyle features an incredible collection of pieces selected with extreme attention to detail. In 2000, Elizabeth and Pamela Doyle opened shop on the Lower East Side, but the constant construction in the neighborhood was too much to bear, so in 2013, the sisters moved the store to the Meatpacking District.
When I visited Doyle & Doyle’s spacious showroom, Elizabeth told me that she enjoyed the new location: it felt just as amiable as Orchard Street but a bit more “grown up." As I looked around, dazzled by the countless vintage gems in the blue velvet shadow boxes, Elizabeth noted that only thirty percent of the store’s stock was on display - the rest was in “the vault.”
Elizabeth detailed how she and Pamela curate educational jewelry exhibitions in-house to showcase the items that live in the vault. For example, Elizabeth explained the premise of the last show, “Sentimental Rings,” in which Doyle & Doyle featured everything from vintage engagement bands to “baby tooth rings,” which I learned were popularized by Queen Victoria of England to celebrate the landmark feat of a child surviving infancy.
The sisters’ love for history and antiques undoubtedly stemmed from their childhood exposure to the beautiful pieces their grandmother brought to America from China, but both Elizabeth and Pamela have an extensive academic backgrounds in jewelry as well. Elizabeth holds a degree from the Gemological Institute of America, where she studied both Geology and Mineralogy, and Pamela worked for years as a New York City diamond dealer before founding Doyle & Doyle. Elizabeth expressed that she and Pamela love picking out new pieces for the store, which houses vintage jewelry from the 1980s all the way back to the Georgian Era. She recalled how a man once travelled to the shop from Boston during a snowstorm in order to purchase an engagement ring for his soon-to-be fiancée. When he looked inside the ring he was to buy, he and Elizabeth realized it had been engraved with the same date as that present day, surely a serendipitous blessing.
Apart from vintage treasures, Doyle & Doyle also has its own signature line, Heirloom. The sisters designed this collection to fill the void of pieces that they cannot find in antique markets. They explained that they use their environment as inspiration. For instance, when Doyle & Doyle moved out of its Lower East Side location, it launched the West 13th Collection of handmade jewelry reflecting their new neighborhood and the idea of “finding one’s way home.”
With their roots now firmly planted in the Meatpacking District, Elizabeth wants shoppers to know that there is no need to be intimidated by the jewelry store. Doyle & Doyle has something beautiful for everyone at every price point, and is run by two women with hearts of gold.
