"Wristy" Silver Crystal Cuff Bracelet - Large

This 1980s cuff bracelet by Wendy Gell gleams with silvery stones, starring a luminous dusty blue pearl in its center. Elegant and edgy, this cuff is exclusively sourced from a private collection of never worn pieces. 

Wendy Gell ruled the fashion jewelry scene of the 1980s and defined commercial collections of the 1990s. Starting off as a taxi driver in New York, Gell designed her first piece of jewelry in 1976 as a birthday gift for a friend, inventing the now famous ‘Wristy’ cuff. In 1982, Vogue published a full-spread feature on her jewelry, establishing Gell as a sought-after designer, with celebrities like Cindy Crawford, Andy Warhol, Hillary Clinton, Cher, and Princess Diana adding her work to their collections.

Throughout the 80s, Gell designed for fashion houses such as Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass, creating bold and colorful pieces covered in rhinestones and pearls. Her success continued into the 1990s, when she was commissioned by Disney to produce jewelry and other products for films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. A defining figure in the history of costume jewelry, Gell has built a lasting legacy and now shares her expertise teaching jewelry making at Southern Oregon University.