Meet Claudia Endler of Claudia Endler Designs in Lincoln Heights

Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Endler.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I didn’t start out as a jewelry designer, but as a sociology business major I did love trying to understand people and culture and how everything is connected. I’ve always been fascinated by the human spirit and how we persevere through difficulty and change and it seemed to me that aesthetics is part of this. Beauty can lift us up, enhance our environment, make us feel good. It makes us happier and healthier.

After a career in the fashion business and then working for an AIDS research study, I hit a crossroads in my life both professionally and personally. I called it my mid-life crisis in my 30’s. I really explored what I wanted to do. I took classes in various fields. And because of my love for jewelry I took a class. I learned to actually make jewelry through carving wax and metalsmithing. My dining table became a jeweler’s bench. Night after night I carved what I had learned in class over and over again.

I worked for another jeweler who had her own retail shop. I joined various organizations in the industry, volunteered, entered contests. I created one ring at a time over a number of years while working full time until I built a body of work. Then, one at a time, I built a client base.

Eventually I was able to leave my job and work exclusively for Claudia Endler Designs. It was all organic; I did not have money or backers. I was just very determined to keep to it because I felt I had to do it. I loved the sculptural part of it. I look at jewelry not just as a portable form of art, it’s also a powerful way to carry our stories with us.

Has it been a smooth road?
Ahhhh. I have yet to hear of anyone who has had a smooth road. I feel the road of your business is the road to learning about oneself. I am my biggest asset and my biggest obstacle. Being able to enjoy the creative process and working with clients I love also meant learning to love the business part of it as well. So I would do things to make those mundane tasks creative. Like the marketing aspect of having events or creating newsletters or writing articles.

Learning to represent my own work was challenging. I had a hard time speaking about how I felt about the work and what it meant to me in a way that people could understand. I had a clear vision of the jewelry itself. But I did not know where to find my clients for a long time. Now they seem to find me. Perhaps I have been doing it long enough or the voice is now relevant. I really form connections with the people I work with so I offer something very different than a typical jeweler experience. People used to tell me you should follow so and so, see what they did and follow that. It took years for me to realize that was not a good fit nor a good way of doing business for me.

I now I feel much better about following a path that is not well travelled because it fits the work. I feel much better in my own skin and in my own version of success.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Claudia Endler Designs – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I help people find a deeper connection to themselves through the journey of creating a reflection piece of jewelry, which is a unique reminder who they know they must be in the world.

I specialize in a clean, modern esthetic. I love repurposing and giving a new life to what is no longer worn, which has a history and tells the story from the past to the present, and potentially into the future as an heirloom piece.

If you had to start over, what would you have done differently?
Started sooner. Asked for more help. I wish I had had the confidence to create my own path rather than trying to fit into someone else’s shoes. Now I realize that how you go through your adventure is as much part of the “success” as getting there

Pricing:

• From Silver Collections to Fine Jewelry Collections $80 – $8000
• Wedding Bands and Engagement Rings in Gold $400 – $2000
• Custom Design depends on the size of the project and the materials. If in gold usually starting at $500+

Contact Info:

• Address: 676 S Ave 21, #33
  90031 Los Angeles, California
• Website: https://www.claudiaendler.com/
• Phone: +1 323-225-5924
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit: 
Space Unseen
black and white image of Claudia by: Kimberly Grisco

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.