Celebrating 1 Year of Sneakersnstuff New York Featuring Tommy Jewels

To celebrate the first anniversary of Sneakersnstuff New York, we linked up with Tommy Jewels for a one-of-a-kind SNS jewelry piece. When it comes to collaborations Tommy is no stranger to the game, from Cam’ron to the Wu-Tang Clan and Macklemore, they all get their Cuban Links and Jesus Pieces from the Bowery legend.

Check our interview with Tommy Jewels and the images below.

All images by Stephen Velastegui

SNS: Please introduce yourself and tell us about how you got your start in the jewellery business.

Tommy Jewels: My name is Tommy Jewels and I’m a local jeweller located in Lower Manhattan. My dad had been doing this his entire life, and I was helping out while going to school. I was gonna do something else after I graduated, but I ended up following in the family business and the passion for it just grew as I got comfortable.

SNS: What makes the name style jewellery so iconic to NYC?

Tommy Jewels: The name plate and name rings were always popular in New York, since the 80s and 90s.

To be honest, people in NYC are a bit flashy, from fashion to jewelry, and New Yorkers love logos, so basically their names are like logos for them to wear everyday.

Like any brand you like, you make sure people see your logo (in this case your nameplate), but it became even more popular today because young kids are gravitating towards that vintage New York style; we usually hear “my mom/dad used to have one”. Also, celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Kanye West have made name jewellery more popular. We’re still making it to this day and especially more during this holiday season.

SNS: Could you talk us through the process from design to production with the SNS piece?

Tommy Jewels: Basically, my good friend Sabrina had brought the idea in, and drew up some pictures which we further edited on the computer. After some back and forth, getting the right size and having it approved, we did the cutting from a sheet of gold–I added that extra italic font and diamond cut on the bottom tail to make it pop out more... basically give it a New York flava. To bring it all together, we gave it a high polish for that little bit of extra shine.

I’m honored to be chosen to do this SNS pendant for Sneakersnstuff’s NYC anniversary.

SNS: What's your favorite piece that you've made for a customer?

Tommy Jewels: We’ve done a lot of pieces in the past, but one piece we did and still do is our old school Classic Jesus piece, that’s my favorite. But as far as a favorite for a customer, we did a Dragon piece many years ago for Wu Tang’s Raekwon. I’m thinking of bringing it back maybe next year.

SNS: Jewellery plays a huge role in the fashion world, and its role in Hip Hop culture is undeniable. What is it that makes people gravitate to certain pieces?

Tommy Jewels: Besides following trends, from fashion to jewellery, people wanna be different. A lot of people bring in their own designs to have customized, but we also carry a lot of classic pieces from the 90s people still usually want. Some like it because their favorite rapper has it, or because “my mom/dad use to have this” etc... but jewellery has always been big in the Hip Hop community.

*It’s a luxury, like buying a car. *

Some say how can you be a rapper now a days without jewellery, cars, sneakers, clothes etc... It goes hand in hand. The only difference is some go harder than others. Lately, we’ve been doing a lot more custom logos, like this SNS piece. We also did a bunch of pendants for Drake’s team, One Night Owls. So definitely more personalized type pendants, whether name or logo. People are getting more and more creative today and just want to be different.

SNS: What makes a New Yorker a New Yorker?

Tommy Jewels: What makes a New Yorker a New Yorker...good question. Now, you can dress the part, but you still not a New Yorker.

It’s not just fashion, it’s a lifestyle.

It’s the attitude, the way you talk and even the way you move your hands haha. People say New Yorkers have an accent, for example people from Brooklyn, and it’s somewhat true. You can spot a New Yorker easily. Not trying to brag, but because of how diverse New York is, we get to interact with so many different people and cultures that we learn a lot from each other. New York is a fast- pace hustle lifestyle that a lot of people are not used to, and because of that we become a little more street smarter. If you can live in NYC you can basically live anywhere. This is why I love New York!