by Carrie Resch
Staff Writer
The Oscar de la Renta fashion show at the Cummer Tuesday was a homecoming for Lillian Ostergard.
A Jacksonville native, the jewelry designer said “It’s very nice to come back home” from her current residence in New York City. She grew up in Jacksonville as Lillian Hoffman — her parents, Charles and Barbara Hoffman, had homes in Ortega and Ponte Vedra — and moved to New York after college.
“I’ve been interested in jewelry and design for a long time,” Ostergard said during a break at the Cummer, where she’s selling her works this week as part of the museum’s Garden Week.
She worked at Christie’s Auction House for 10 years and Verdura jewelry company for eight years before striking out in her own business, Lillian H. Ostergard, Ltd. She’s been selling high-end baubles for eight years and works from home.
She does shows privately with friends and family, charities, or museums, but this was her first Cummer event. “It was fun. I’m looking forward to it again,” she said.
A friend asked her to participate and Hoffman donated a pearl necklace for a drawing.
Her pieces feature nature and animals and she uses a lot of pearls, crystals and diamonds in her pieces that are all 18k yellow or white gold or platinum. She likes color and jewelry with a whimsical sense of humor. Her pieces include necklaces, rings, broaches.
“There is a strong emphasis on animals,” she said. “A lot of pieces are carved by Idar-Oberstein in Germany. That area has the best carvers.” They sculpt some of the pieces and send them back to her.
Her pieces go from $1,000 to $15,000.