PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAROLINEBPHOTO

WORLDLY WHIMSY
FINDING INSPIRATION IN BOTH THE BEAUTY OF NATURE AND ENDURING
ELEMENTS OF STYLE, A TEXAS DESIGNER CRAFTS ARTISAN JEWELRY THAT FEELS
AT ONCE AU COURANT AND ABIDING.
by Elizabeth Bonner Czapski | styling by Mary Beth Jones | photography by Steve Rizzo

A
lthough her roots “I was living in a doors-are-always- shopping,” says Nicola, who was born in
span South Africa, open sorority dorm, so everyone saw Johannesburg, South Africa, lived in
England, and the [it] and wanted a necklace. One day England and Michigan as a young child,
northern U.S., it when I went in for more beads and but grew up in San Antonio, Texas,
was an impulsive chain, they were teaching a class on after moving there at age six.
jewelry-making class making wire earrings. No one had While she occasionally still creates
in Texas that inspired Nicola Bathie come, so I felt obligated to sit and a one-off design, the artisan has built
McLaughlin’s distinctive line of artful learn. It was a random event,” Nicola an inventory of products using
earrings. Mother-of-pearl, gilded says of this catalyst to her company. “I traditional motifs and materials, such
accents, and kaleidoscopic gems adorn just kept making jewelry piece by as plated gold, glass, porcelain, and
her signature large-scale flower piece, and it happened. I didn’t have a pearls, with fanciful yet classic
bouquet and basket designs, as well plan. I didn’t wait for the right time or presentations. “I try to tread on
as simple hoops and studs that suit a sign. If I had, I am not sure I would be trends lightly,” she says. “Trends are
any occasion. doing what I am today.”  great because they push fashion—we
Nicola’s venture began while she was In 2013, she launched the business, just don’t go all in. That way, you can’t around your wrist,” she says. also call for expanding the hand- Parisian markets, and coastal Italy.
studying interior design at Texas Nicola Bathie, producing exquisite pinpoint a time when the design was Oversize hair bows made sculpted potted papier-mâché “[My upbringing] gave me the
Christian University with a studio earrings while continuing interior made, and therefore, it can never from luxury fabrics are recent blooms that spearheaded her perspective of how big the world is
schedule that conflicted with friends’ design work until she had her first baby really go out of style.” additions, and last fall, Nicola Jewelry for the Home creations. and all the design differences this big
classes. “I was just looking for something a few years later. She then decided to Though earrings remain Nicola’s collaborated on a capsule collection Nicola’s vision is influenced by her world has. It taught me to appreciate
to fill the time I was alone,” she recalls. focus solely on her jewelry. “[At first] bread and butter, she offers a few with Antonio Melani, Dillard’s diverse heritage with pieces exuding the details of different designs in
Prompted by a loose stone she wanted to everything was one of a kind—once it coordinating items, like a chinoiserie department store’s largest ladies’ Southern charm and a hint of architecture, interiors, and fashion,”
put to use, she found a local shop with was gone, it was gone. I think that drove bracelet she’s currently developing. apparel brand. Tapping into her European elegance, including subtle she says.
supplies and created a necklace. a business model of now-or-never “It looks like little flowers floating interior design background, plans nods to London’s Covent Garden, For info, visit nicolabathie.com.

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