Though not as ubiquitous as moto jackets and Chelsea boots, the X ring has already become a quintessential piece of New York-inspired fashion. Its creator, Eva Zuckerman A'05, first sold the ring in 2011 through her brand Eva Fehren Jewelry, and has since celebrated the design's 10th anniversary by opening a brick and mortar store in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center. While she was understandably irritated by the many copies of her design that followed its original release, she now feels honored that her work has become an icon of 21st century fashion.   

Zuckerman seems to have been fated to design jewelry: her parents owned a temporary tattoo and cosmetics company, a combination of commerce and aesthetics. In an interview, Zuckerman described her childhood in the West Village as a time steeped in making art: “I grew up painting on tattoos, doing body art, and pretty much drawing constantly.” She finds the greatest inspiration for her designs in New York itself, through the glamor and toughness of the city’s skyscrapers, sidewalks, and intersections. She constantly considers how a piece can convey grit and femininity, and has often noted that her goal is for customers to feel powerful and more like themselves when donning one of her rings or necklaces. 

Zuckerman, whose husband Dimitri Scheblanov is a fellow Cooper graduate and co-founder of the photography duo Herring & Herring, makes a point to design engagement and wedding rings that both symbolize a union and highlight individual differences. She remembers a couple who wanted different versions of her Zipper ring line: “They couldn’t decide between wanting white diamonds and blue sapphires, the thinner profile or the wider silhouette. So, they got one of each width in both stone types. They are repeat customers, so every time I see them, they are swapping rings and mixing and matching them. I love it.”