“To watch Beth Coiner dance is to understand her jewelry- elegantly restrained, fluid and funky, graceful and strong, delicate but gritty.” ~ Tiffany Silverman, Domain Magazine

“Jewelry represents an intimate statement of adornment, marking the wearer’s passage in life, much like a tattoo.” ~ Beth Coiner

For Beth Coiner, jewelry design all started with a monkey.

While dancing with the troupe she founded in New York City, Beth was inspired to try metalsmithing after working for a company where she assembled a computerized animation simulator puppet. “I got really good at working with my hands and went on to manipulate metal,” she says. After leaving modern dance, Beth turned full-time to designing jewelry.

“I know it sounds funny,” explains Beth, “but making this monkey was a real crossover link for me from making dances to making jewelry. The electronic assembly of this puppet– the hands-on skills required to create an inanimate object animate– was an “a-ha moment” in how I approached my jewelry design aesthetic.

I wanted my designs to be fluid, have a sense of movement.”

Beth still dances. (“It’s really more of a hobby for me now.”) But, says Coiner, it keeps the creative juices flowing. “I apply my movement aesthetic to my designs when I’m sitting in the studio.” Since closing her New York City-based dance company, Beth moved back to her southern roots in South Carolina eight years ago and has since created several collections.

“When I moved to Charleston after being in New York for so long, I was struck at the natural beauty around me. The organic world inspires and influences my work today, but I’ve definitely retained an edgy, urban aesthetic brought back with me from The City.”

Inspired by organic elements, Beth began to explore repurposing as a source of raw materials for her designs. Repurposing fine metals and precious stones are Coiner’s concerted efforts of green metalsmithing.
“I encourage clients to reuse old fine jewelry for material usage in new custom designs. It’s a way of making something old new again.”

Beth’s custom transformations of an old heirloom into a new heirloom, refers back to bespoke service, an old style of jewelry making. Taking a custom shop approach to jewelry design, Beth’s bespoke service works closely with the client on a design that is perfectly tailored for that particular client.

“Whether you’re getting married or divorced, my creations become part of your transformation, much like a tattoo. Through the creative process with a client, a tiny sculpture arrives, packed full of symbolism and sentiment.”

BEC is a jewelry line designed and produced by Beth Elaine Coiner. BEC’s collections are sold in high-end boutiques, eco-conscious craft shows and online. BEC’s custom jewelry focuses primarily on wedding rings and fine jewelry, constructed from repurposed fine raw materials from client’s old heirlooms.

Beth’s work as both a choreographer and as a jewelry designer has been featured in New York Magazine, The New York Times, Time Out New York, Dance Magazine, The Village Voice, Blu Magazine, Lucky Magazine, Charleston Magazine, Domain Magazine, Garden & Gun Magazine and various blogs including ReadyMade Magazine’s.