How Sybil and David Yurman redefined the concept of 10,000 hours

Our new book Sybil and David Yurman: Artists and Jewelers describes the skill, inspiration, and hard work the artist couple put into reinventing American jewelry  

Ten thousand hours has often been referred to as the time any artist has to put in to learn and master their trade. It implies years of training and learning. The phrase was coined by Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling book Outliers: The Story of Success.

For Sybil and David Yurman however, ten thousand hours is nowhere the amount of time they have spent learning their craft.

25th Anniversary Mosaic cuff with garnet, pink tourmaline, peridot, and pavé-set diamonds, 2011. Photographed by Raymond Meier. Picture credit: © Raymond Meier

While crisscrossing the United States in the 1970s, selling their jewelry at craft fairs—a learning experience in itself—the fledgling artists sought to develop their skills through training. David apprenticed successively with Jacques Lipchitz, Hans Van de Bovenkamp, and Theodore Roszak, all leading sculptors in the American scene at the time.

Sybil and David Yurman in the atelier at the Vestry Street headquarters, New York, 2023. Photographed by Norman Jean Roy. Picture credit: © Norman Jean Roy

Sybil meanwhile, enrolled in a succession of programs up and down the East Coast including Hunter College in Manhattan; the Corcoran College of Art in Washington, DC; and Columbia University. She even made time to study medieval literature under Alain Renoir at the University of California, Berkeley; and went to Purchase, a college in the State University of New York system.

Starburst Collection one-of-a-kind yellow and white gold and pavé-set diamond pendant necklaces with aquamarines, 2023. Photographed by Emil Larsson. Picture credit: © Emil Larsson

And so by the time Sybil and David founded the David Yurman company in 1980, ten thousand hours was a mere fraction of the time they had spent honing their talents. They were already, perhaps, the most experienced and skilled jewelry team in the United States, ready to inject what they had learned in the worlds of art, craft, and design into their new company.

Kate Moss wearing Link curb chain necklace, oval ring with onyx and pavé-set diamonds, St. Barts, 2007. Picture credit: © Peter Lindbergh Foundation

“When we look at their lives and the company they have built, we understand that they recognise intuitively that skill is about more than just making,” writes Thierry-Maxime Loriot independent curator, creative director, and author in our new book Sybil and David Yurman: Artists and Jewelers.

David Yurman, Icarus I, 1974, Bronze. Photographed by Emil Larsson. Picture credit: © David Yurman, New York, 2004/Photo © Emil Larsson

“Like many of their artistic forebears through time,” Loriot continues, “they understand it to be the means of creative control and a fundamental way of interacting with the world.”

In the book, founders and chief designers Sybil and David Yurman share the personal story of their revolutionary New York City design house that introduced the iconic cable bracelet and has defined contemporary jewelry for five decades. Showcasing Sybil’s work as a painter and David’s as a sculptor, the book explores how the Yurmans’ artistic practices are inextricably intertwined with their jewelry-making.

Amber Valletta wearing Rio Knot and Noblesse rings, St. Barts, 2001. Photographed by Peter Lindbergh. Picture credit: © Peter Lindbergh Foundation

With archival materials, family photographs, original design sketches, stunning jewelry portraits, and behind-the-scenes images of their famous campaigns, readers will get an inside look at their creative journey and the company’s history.

Read more about Sybil and David Yurman: Artists and Jewelers here.