Jackie Kennedy called him  “the Cellini of design.” The Duchess of Windsor said he walked in the footsteps of Fabergé. And the New York Times told its readers that “David Webb’s taupe salon is as busy as a supermarket on Saturday morning.” He was a boy of the South, from Asheville, North Carolina, who opened his New York shop in 1948 and from that point on fame and success were his best and loyal friends. For inspiration Webb looked to the world of art, especially the art of Ancient Rome and Greece, the Far East and Peru, spinning creations that bore his trademark look: size, texture, and color. His manner was reserved yet his jewelry was anything but. In 1964, as recognition for his must-have animal bracelets and pins, he received the first-ever Coty Award given for jewelry design. His devoted clientele have included the Social Register of America: Mellon, Astor, Rockefeller, Whitney, Roosevelt, Annenberg, Vanderbilt; trendsetters such as Nan Kempner, Anne H. Bass, and Estée Lauder; and Hollywood’s most celebrated, including Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Lauren Bacall. Although David Webb died at the young age of fifty in 1975, his company continued to prosper; since June 2010, new owners Mark Emanuel, Sima Ghadamian, and Robert Sadian have been dedicated to making the exceptional jewelry long established by David Webb, and exploring a rich archive of nearly 40,000 original drawings.

David Webb is especially proud to be the jeweler at The Swan Ball 2012. In 1969 and again in 1970, David Webb personally designed and donated the prestigious Swan Award.