By Maddie Adams
In a world of fast-made and unethical jewellery Avalon local Zara Toohey has forged her own brand; imbued with her personal aesthetic, joyful androgyny and a desire to create future vintage.
Already having a keen eye for design and fashion, Zara chose to study interior design at university. However, she found it difficult to bend her personal design and aesthetic choices to fit assignment briefs.
When she was given a particularly rigid assessment that she couldn’t meet, a candid professor told her that “maybe it would be better to work for yourself, rather than trying to fit the requirements of someone else”.
Zara said that this was the encouragement she needed to pivot away from her initial study, pursue her dreams and enroll in a jewellery making course at TAFE Ultimo.
Reminiscing about The Bench – which offered a course in jewellery making as a precursor to a Certificate IV in Jewellery Design and Engineering – Zara highlighted the differences between her TAFE and uni experiences.
“[At TAFE] they treated us like adults and were personally invested in our success,” she said.
Adaptable to her needs and routine, Zara said that TAFE was beneficial to honing her jewellery making skills and connected her with industry professionals, who she is still in contact with.
After TAFE, Zara worked as a production jeweller for a popular Australian brand where she developed an interest in the business side of things. When she left that job, Zara had to sign a six-month contract that locked production, meaning she had to design and create in private.
Although this restricted her posting about and selling her wares, she described it as a positive time that enabled her to focus on creating a brand with intention.
“Rather than putting jewellery out without consideration, I created a brand that I wanted to buy, that followed a firm aesthetic and that stood out from others.”
Reflecting her personal style – a delicate balance of new-age whimsy and eclectic vintage – Zara launched Harvey Jewels (named after her beloved childhood dog) in 2023.
Wanting the brand to be recognised with a specific colour scheme, she chose a mustard yellow that appears often in nature and juxtaposed it with a charcoal black – a striking combo inspired by old vinyl covers Zara had flicked through.
Emulating vintage luxury brands and their iconic monogram logos, Harvey Jewels’ capital “H” (as seen on Harvey’s Instagram and around the shop) works to make the brand feel like it’s been around forever.
After much time spent creating alone, Zara said that she is looking forward to working with others, “every jeweller is more than 50 per cent mad, the isolation can be hard mentally”.
Looking to the future, Zara is keen to get to know her customers through regular jewellery-making classes and she plans to launch small-batch clothing collaborations as part of a “Haus of Harvey”.
When asked what advice she’d give up-and-coming TAFE designers and makers she said: “Trust in your abilities and believe in yourself, if you’re talented it will happen.”
Featured image: The bustling Harvey Jewels shopfront on opening night. Photo: Zara Toohey
