About Catherine Canino

We're so excited to be carrying Catherine Canino earrings on sticks.com! We know you Sticks fans are conscious about what you buy and where you purchase your treasures from, so we're here to share a little bit more about her history and process with all of you. Enjoy reading on and learning more!

Catherine Canino is the designer behind everything at CC & Co by Catherine Canino. She's been designing jewelry since her first gorgeous pasta and yarn necklace at a kitchen table in Connecticut, 1972. (And as made apparent by this bio she wrote, she's got sass.. and we are here for it).

She's always possessed an insatiable obsession with fashion and design which led to a fancy art school education. Once graduated, reality settled in followed by gritty jewelry factory work and industry design gigs. It wasn't her favorite. Her own brand began in a studio apartment on the Upper East Side of NYC with a slightly illegal torch, a tumbler, and many late nights of hand crafting each piece.

Catherine loves to pull inspiration from the darn beautiful world we live in. In particular, because we do all play favorites: antique jewelry, equestrian tack, nautical hardware, and vintage magazines. Her favorite stone dealer and leather tannery are the source of seasonal color palettes. Most inspiring to her though, are the stylish women of all ages that wear her pieces with personal adaptation.

Everything, and we mean everything, is handcrafted in NYC. After inspiration strikes, it is time to get her hands dirty. She models and molds all of her own hardware. Her factory is located in the heart of Manhattan’s jewelry district and the process could not happen without her team of 20 fabulous crafters.

The signature pebble pearls are a hand crafted composite: mother of pearl shell is crushed, formed into the pebble shape, then lacquered and polished 18 times (Catherine counted) to draw out the shell’s luster and hue. She wanted to deliver the look of pearl without the quick degradation.

Her post earrings feature surgical steel posts with hypoallergenic rubber ear stoppers - because she hates sore itchy ears and knows you ladies do too. She hand crafts the collection in three different, beautiful metals: Classic polished 14 karat gold over brass, warm artisinal matte finished 18 karat gold over brass, and 925 solid sterling liver with high polish finish. Please note the gold plating is to the industry standard of 5mils.