Inside a Family Atelier: Legacy & Longevity at NYC Jewelry Week 2024

Step inside family-owned atelier Petra Class Studio as they discuss relationship dynamics, artistic evolution, passing the torch and balancing an artist’s legacy with brand longevity. Don’t miss the concurrent open-studio, with a retrospective exhibition [1990s-present] & closing reception cocktail party!

Petra Class grew up and was educated in Germany. After studying art history and philosophy at the University of Stuttgart, she pursued a rigorous traditional education in metalsmithing and design. Petra’s years training as a silversmith constructing tableware informed her approach to jewelry making, inspired foremost by the European tradition of applied art. Living in the exciting city of Berlin before the fall of the Wall, she made her first steps into creating her own world of jewelry, experimenting and learning, establishing herself and selling her work in galleries around Germany. After meeting her husband Steve, a California native, Petra emigrated to San Francisco and founded the jewelry design studio in 1991. She currently splits her studio time between winters in San Francisco and summers in the German countryside, where she creates most of the new one-of-a-kind pieces and prototypes.

Growing up in the studio environment, Lucas Class-Knorr always had a knack for making jewelry. As a child, he would twist gold wire into interesting shapes on the workbench floor, create unique pieces for his friends and help out at the craft shows (some of our longtime customers might remember him as a teenager behind the booth!). Short stints working in the studio throughout his young adult life eventually flourished into a full-time career in 2020, when the pandemic spurred him to further explore his artistic side. A creative force in the studio, he enjoys collaborating on one-of-a-kind pieces with Petra and finding influence in her early works. Currently based in New York, Lucas and his wife Phoebe travel frequently – they can often be found at trunk shows or gathering inspiration at museums across the world.

After studying design & art administration at Parsons School of Design, Phoebe Class-Knorr worked in high fashion for many years as a publicist, for houses such as Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Schiaparelli, Helmut Lang and more. Jewelry was always a passion of hers and being quite close to the brand (she and Lucas have been together since 2015) she often assisted Petra with marketing materials, photoshoots, and trunk shows when possible, before officially joining in 2022 to run operations in the New York studio. A quick study in the world of gemstones, Phoebe finds joy in the design process, playing with colors and composition before pieces make their way to the work bench.

Karen Davidov is an independent art and design producer with experience working in libraries as a researcher, on libraries as a designer, and with libraries as a public art consultant. Karen pursued her passion for jewelry and jewelry research as a dealer of 20th Century Decorative Arts for many years. The Jewelry Library is an extension of her work with librarians and curators creating spaces and programs that invite and engage community. The Jewelry Library (TJL) is a collaborative space curated for jewelry people by jewelry people. Founded in 2018, TJL hosts a wide range of exhibitions, talks, and events all across the jewelry-spectrum, collaborating with both contemporary and vintage gallerists, artists, and collectors, as well as storytellers, historians, makers, and wearers.

Each November, NYC Jewelry Week proudly presents ‘The Week,’ a 7-day celebration dedicated to the art of jewelry. This annual event invites a global audience to explore the world of jewelry through a dynamic mix of in-person and virtual experiences, spanning New York City and beyond.

Host or Publisher NYC Jewelry Week