Patty Tobin loves to layer. Always focused on keeping her pieces versatile, Patty Tobin creates many rope style necklaces like this beautiful white pearl and onyx rope with 18K vermeil detail ($495 each).

“Patty Tobin does not fit the typical mold of the successful jewelry designer that she is,” says Platinum Style in their new Fall 2012 issue profiling the designer and
her stunning collection of semiprecious gemstone and pearl jewelry.

Well, if you ask us, that’s an understatement. There’s not much that is “typical” about Patty Tobin — the woman or the jewelry. She’s a one-of-a kind woman building a one-of-a-kind jewelry empire; one necklace at a time.  After a lifelong career in marketing and business development, Tobin embarked on a creative venture that she didn’t realize at the time would turn out to be the perfect merger of her business sensibilities and a then undiscovered talent for design.

Top: Microfaceted Onyx & White Freshwater Pearl Lariat Necklace ($895); 18K Vermeil-set Onyx Earrings ($95). Bottom: Pink & White Biwa and Coin Pearl Torsade by Patty Tobin ($795).

When we first met with Platinum Style‘s team to begin planning for the fall issue, both the stylists and the photographers who came to the boutique were constantly repeating their amazement with Patty’s collection. The only difficulty, they said, was in choosing which of her amazing pieces to use for their “Fall Into Fashion” issue. “Looking at the beautiful jewelry pieces displayed in her boutique, you would expect her to be a seasoned artisan that’s been perfecting her craft for the past 30 years,” says the mag.

Since opening on the inaugural Fashion’s Night Out in September of 2009, Patty Tobin jewelry has been very well received both by new local clientele as well as various members of the media, including CBSNews.com, Women’s Day, Esthetique, and Plus Model Magazine. USA Today and CNN have also profiled Patty Tobin and her dramatic career shift for feature stories related to successful career moves.

Patty admits to being a “bit of an oddity by traditional standards,” in her interview with the magazine, but believes she represents a growing group of men and women who have ventured into an entirely new career later in life. In that respect, she says, “I guess I am the poster child for the career set over 50.”

White Coin Pearl Torsade ($795) by Patty Tobin and White Baroque Freshwater Pearl Earrings in 18K Vermeil ($110) by Patty Tobin.

A self-admitted “fashion junky,” Tobin says when it comes to her “design process,” she is unlike many other jewelry designers. Her natural sense of style, paired with an eye for aesthetics, and the discerning taste of a third-generation fashion maven, is what guides Tobin’s creativity. Pulling inspiration from everything around her — from the women on the street in New York to old photographs of movie stars and fashion icons to the flowers in the park or the sun setting over the Hudson — Tobin is always absorbing the vibrance of her surrounding environment and looking for different ways to reflect those elements in her jewelry.

Beginning with a search for materials, Tobin says she will snatch up pearls or stones or metal findings that are a “bit funky” whenever she can. “I’m looking for something a little different, a little unusual, but that will still appeal to my customer base.” Whether it’s rough cut ametrines, or faceted bilemon topaz nuggets, or a firey bunch of blue-gray labradorite briolettes — two of the designer’s favorites by the way — Patty is always looking for the best quality semiprecious gemstones and pearls that she can fashion together this way or that for an unexpected twist.

Blue Topaz Acanthus Cocktail Ring ($995) & Blue Topaz Triple-Drop Briolette Earrings ($395).

Using gemstones in rich, vibrant colors and pearls of all different shapes, sizes, and hues, Patty Tobin creates jewelry that is at once classic, but also fashionable. “Understated Elegance,” says Tobin, is her trademark aesthetic. “For me, nothing makes a statement quite like the sophisticated elegance of a traditional design brought fashion forward just enough to make it stand out without being ‘trendy.'”

Patty Tobin shares her genuine enthusiasm for what she does with Platinum Style, explaining that “being able to create these ‘pretty’ things that make people happy when they put it on gives me great pleasure.” We would be forgetting a key factor if we didn’t mention the value of Patty Tobin jewelry and the crucial role her price-points play in the designer’s success.

Not only is Patty Tobin jewelry beautiful, but one of the founding principles of the Patty Tobin brand is affordability. “The fact that we make [our jewelry] affordable is perhaps the most satisfying part of the business,” says Tobin. “You don’t have to make a ‘gabillion’ dollars to afford Patty Tobin fine fashion jewelry.” It is this mixture of quality, beauty and affordability that has been the recipe for success for Patty Tobin — the woman, the business, and, of course, the jewelry.

Honey colored citrine cabochon gemstones adorn these long 18K Vermeil chains by Patty Tobin ($395 each).

So what does the designer want you take away from this story?

Two things: First, never say never. Patty could never have imagined departing from the consulting world she had always known for nearly thirty years to reinvent herself in her mid-fifties as a jewelry designer in New York City. But, like the designer says, “Who knew?” Anything is possible if you work hard enough and smart enough. Second, please — I say again, please — support small businesses whenever possible.

“Small businesses have always been the backbone of this Country,” Tobin points out at the close of her interview. “As all of us as consumers are looking for ‘value’ in our purchases, so [also] as consumers, should we look to add value to our financial and business systems,” by supporting local small businesses. Patty Tobin Fine Fashion Jewelry is manufactured not only in the United States, but in New York State.

Open Closet Magazine, a new fashion publication based in NYC, is on a mission to promote new up-and-coming designers like Patty Tobin in a way that inspires its audience. The only magazine of its kind, Open Closet Magazine, hopes to be the leader when it comes to spotting and promoting new talent among designers from every end of the spectrum.

The magazine launched its first issue for September 2012 with Mob Wives star, Ramona Rizzo, gracing the cover and wearing a Patty Tobin bali sterling and freshwater pearl bracelet ($225, available online) and a pair of our pink baroque freshwater pearl earrings ($95, available through special order, call 212.414.0174).

Ramona Rizzo wearing a keshi pearl torsade by Patty Tobin and a pair of long white pearl and clear crystal earrings.

Working with co-founder and stylist, Avery Johnson, was such a treat! He loves Patty Tobin jewelry and hand-picked each piece that was featured in the magazine, including the pink and peacock keshi pearl torsade as seen on Ramona in the photo to your right ($895, available by phone: 212.414.0174).

The whole team at Open Closet is just a great group of talented people, including Ramona who is such a doll. She loved the jewelry and was so excited to get her new Patty Tobin necklace at the launch party.

Patty Tobin with Mob Wives Star, Ramona Rizzo, as she shows off her new Patty Tobin necklace at Open Closet Magazine's launch party in NYC.

Not only did we get the opportunity to work with Avery and his team to drape Ramona for the shoot, but they were so taken with Patty’s jewelry, they wanted to feature her as one of the main designers for their first issue! Scroll down to see the amazing two-page spread on Patty Tobin and her fine fashion jewelry collection. Plus, visit our Facebook page for some excellent party pics of Patty and her gang at the launch event here in New York.

We have no doubt that the magazine will be a smashing success and we can’t wait to work with them again down the road! If you haven’t heard of of Open Closet Magazine before, you should definitely check them out online or follow them on Facebook.

Open Closet Magazine features jewelry designer, Patty Tobin, and her line of semiprecious gemstone and pearl jewelry in its premiere issue (September 2012). In this shot: Labradorite Earrings in Sterling Silver ($165), Peridot Cabochon Torsade ($1295), Madeira Citrine Acanthus Cocktail Ring ($1395), Abalone Double-strand Torsade ($595).