WHO: KEVIA JEFFREY-WEST
WHAT: JEWELLERY AND HANDBAG DESIGNER
WHERE: PORTLAND, OREGON, US
VISIT: www.kevia.biz
FFF LOVES… Her delicately hand-hammered 22k gold vermeil stacking rings featuring bezel-set rose cut smoky quartz, crystal and blue topaz (below).
Breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner?
Dinner.
Where will you be dining?
May in Pienza, Italy; Murano, Italy; Santa Barbara, CA and Paris, France!
What music are you listening to?
Madeline Peyroux.
What are you wearing?
Rachel Pally black empire dress with Cydwoq sandles. 
What are you going to eat?
Start with a Pecorino di Pienza Pienza (an Italian strong flavoured sheeps’ milk cheese) board with ciabatta bread, roasted almond, pear, and quince paste, vine ripened local tomatoes, all gathered from a Pienza deli and eaten on the old city steps. Head to Murano for second course, sit outside with ocean view for same day caught fried calamari, scallops and shrimp with lemon, and house made black olive aioli. Sip on fresh spearmint iced tea with organic South African honey and crushed organic raspberries. Main course in Santa Barbara at Olio Limone Ristorante roasted baby artichokes with balsamic reduction. Risotto with shrimp, asparagus, cream, lemon and chives. Dessert in Paris, crème brulee finished with Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon, house made toffee and chocolate.
About Kevia Jeffrey-West:
Kevia Jeffrey-West began developing jewellery for her personal collection while studying in Zimbabwe as an undergraduate at Lewis & Clark College in 1997 and 1999. She collected locally mined and cut stones, sketched designs, and found local jewelers to make her creations. While completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and social change, she worked in the fields of urban environmental policy, community outreach, and social justice for eight years. Her community and academic work led to a full ride fellowship in an education research and policy PhD program at the University of California Santa Barbara in 2003.
While living in Santa Barbara, she once again began creating jewellery in her spare time. Only three months after being approached by a local boutique to develop items for their store, Kevia’s jewellery was being carried in 20 high-end Southern California boutiques including Wendy Foster in Montecito. Kevia decided to officially launch her line in the winter of 2005 using her own namesake, which means “beautiful child”.
The small list of stores carrying her jewellery rapidly grew to over four hundred stores in six hundred locations by 2008. In addition to gracing the shelves of high-end boutiques across numerous continents, Kevia’s collection has been featured in several renowned publications including InStyle, Lucky, Life & Style, People Espanola, and Real Simple. Her work has been seen on Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Lie to Me, and the movie 27 Dresses. Katherine Heigl, Norah Jones, Amy Brenneman and Teri Hatcher have been spotted wearing her jewellery.