Early years

David Yurman grew up in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. At age 15 he met a Cuban welder and sculptor named Ernesto Gonzalez, who taught him welding techniques.^[3] After a year at New York University, Yurman left college and spent the next five years hitchhiking between New York's Greenwich Village, Venice, California, and Big Sur, partaking in the Beatnik and San Francisco Renaissance cultural movements. In the early 1960s, Yurman apprenticed for several years with modernist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz.^[4] He also established his own studio in Greenwich Village. Here, he worked for various sculptors, including Theodore Roszak and Edward Meshekoff, doing large-scale public works. At Lincoln Center, Yurman helped create the railings of the promenade in the David H. Koch Theater, designed by Phillip Johnson.^[5] He also worked on the eagle sculpture commissioned for the James L. Watson Court of International Trade in New York City. In the late 1960s, Yurman became the shop foreman of sculptor Hans Van de Bovenkamp. In this studio, Yurman met the painter Sybil Kleinrock, his future wife, and business partner.^[6][4]

The transition to jewelry

In the early 1970s, Yurman and Kleinrock moved to Carmel in upstate New York. They formed a company called Putnam Art Works which specialized in sculptural jewellery.^[4] Throughout the next decade they exhibited their jewellery designs, sculptures and paintings at various galleries and craft fairs. They became key figures in the American craft movement. Through Putnam Art Works, the Yurmans learned about the marketplace for fine crafts and artisanal jewellery. They married in 1979 and founded the David Yurman company a year later, with Sybil Yurman acting as a co-creator and collaborator in all facets of the business. Their son, Evan Yurman, was born on January 31, 1982.

In 1977, Yurman was chosen as one of twelve jewellers to exhibit at the first New Designer Gallery at the Retail Jewelers of America Show (RJA) in New York City. This exhibit is seen as a pivotal moment for the connection between traditional artisans and established merchandisers.^[7][8] During the 1980s and 1990s, the David Yurman company was at the forefront of the emerging category of American designer jewellery.

In 2003, Evan Yurman joined the company, and in 2004 he became the Design Director of the Men's and Timepiece Collections. In 2009, he launched an exclusive collection of high jewellery and began overseeing the company's Wedding Collection, which launched in 2006.^[9]