This Second-Generation Jewelry Designer Debuts Her Line

Thirty-year-old Tiffany Kay is unveiling her eponymous jewelry line on QVC. She has an impressive array of bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings. But what she doesn’t have: her Dad, the man who inspired her to join him in the business. “My entire life changed in the blink of an eye.”

You may remember Scott Kay, a world-renowned artist and jewelry designer who brought his craft to QVC in the form of gemstone and Diamonique® simulated gemstone jewelry. Three years ago he died of a sudden heart attack. Back then, his daughter and coworker, Tiffany, threw herself into her work to cope with her grief. Two months after her dad’s death, Tiffany was back on the airwaves at QVC and finding comfort from viewers. “The QVC customer was so there for me. We had more phone calls that day. They were just calling to say they were supporting me.” 

Knitting Through Her Grief

But without her dad, it wasn’t the same. And her grief was growing. That’s when she took up knitting. “I dug myself this big hole and I was playing this game of pretend that everything’s fine. And then it all hit me at once and I needed to change my lifestyle.” Tiffany sees knitting as a form of mediation. She only knits scarves, and of the 50 she’s finished over the years, she’s donated all but four.

While knitting, she contemplated what she would do with her life. Jewelry had been at the center of her world, along with her dad, since she was a little girl. “I started going to the office with my dad when I was seven. I’m the oldest of three and I was always the kid going into the office. I loved the people there, touching all the jewelry, going to the factory and seeing everything being made. It was impossible not to fall in love with the art of jewelry.”

An Aha Moment

In time, she came to realize her future. “I knew I wanted to stay in jewelry and I needed to figure out what I was going to do.” And then Tiffany had her aha moment. Her knitting needles stopped short. “I threw the scarf across the room. I told my aunt who was with me, ‘I figured it out! I’m going to put the knitting textures on my jewelry!’”

And that’s just what she did. The first piece she designed was the Sterling Silver Basic Purl-Knit Bangle. “The pillow-y effect of this bracelet is unbelievable. When I received the sample, I started to cry. That’s when I knew what I was doing was right.”

Tiffany hopes people realize that Tiffany Kay Studio is her collection. “I did this for me. I know my father’s looking down and he’s proud of me, but I didn’t do it for him. It was a way for me to move forward and do what he inspired me to fall in love with.”