"If you don’t already know Victoria Lampley then this is your introduction to the coolest and kindest woman in jewellery. Her platform, the Stax, promotes and elevates independent jewellery brands, helping them to get the attention they deserve. As one of my first supporters she’s been absolutely pivotal in my story and I know she’s done the same for so many others. Big-hearted with incredible taste and a fantastically naughty side, this is a woman who epitomises everything that the Coven is about."

View jewellery worn by Victoria

WELCOME TO THE COVEN, VICTORIA

Let’s start with your story and how you’ve got yourself to this point. Give us some background about your business, what it does, what sparked it and what continues to fuel it.

I started The Stax as a way to channel my grief into something beautiful. I had recently lost my mother to cancer, moved to LA, had two babies in two years and I yearned for beauty and community in my daily life. So my dear friend, Laurel Pantin, and I started The Stax together as a way of showcasing our shared love for jewellery.

My mother was an artist, and a DJ in her early days. Her nickname was Stax, like Stax of Wax records, so the company name came easily to me and echoed how I personally style my own jewellery: more is more. And colour is always a must for me!

The Stax is a visual diary of sorts as jewellery is deeply sentimental for me. It’s talismanic and protective and can really commemorate a moment in time, set in stone. I wear a piece of my mother’s every day and never take it off, a reminder of the protective power of jewellery. It’s armour for me.

From the genesis of my company, it has grown organically into a discovery destination for brands, spaces, people and more. I love people, community and connecting the dots in an industry that can feel really daunting and inaccessible. I work in a number of ways—building personal collections for private clients, advising brands, hosting events, spotlighting talent and writing about jewellery in my recently-launched SubStax.

Can you share some of the big things you’ve learnt since you started out?

Oh boy, there are so many things. As corny as it may sound, be true to yourself and only go towards people, places and things that make you feel good. I only promote and work with brands I personally want to wear and genuinely believe in. And I would also say that sometimes the smallest moment can bring the biggest reward.

What have been your big successes or your moments that have felt huge?

Working with designers I have always loved and admired to make and/or procure some epic pieces for my clients—a dream come true.

Also the dance of discovering a new brand, promoting them and seeing them soar. It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy when new brands get the attention they deserve.

Working with Sotheby’s on my Palm Beach event was also a full circle moment for me—a homecoming of sorts with a curation of 26 female jewellers from around the world, all honouring and advocating for maternal health in the US.

Anything you would have done differently?

I try not to look back and question as one makes so many mistakes but I also feel that is what evolving and growing a business feels like - a constant lesson!

Is there anything about your industry that you’d like to fundamentally change? Or anything that you think isn’t given enough attention?

At The Stax I try to use it as a discovery platform for new talent to have a voice, but also to reframe heritage brands that have perhaps been lost in the mix of the influencer era and pay-to-play partnership models. I try to advocate for brands I truly believe in to have a moment.

And tell me about the people who form your Coven. Whether they’re mentors, colleagues, peers within your industry or other founders who you’ve met while building your own brand. Who are the handful of women who helped you? What is the impact they have had on your success and growth? And importantly what are they doing that we should know about?

This is a loaded question! I honestly have too many to name. I can’t single out a group or a list as I’m lucky enough to know and love countless women who have helped me immensely with growing my company.

My main muse is my mother. She raised me with the biggest heart, most beautiful taste and a lust for life and love that was contagious. Being in her orbit felt like a technicolour world and I try to recreate that with my work at The Stax.

Not to mention all the women in my family who inspire me daily—my aunt Fern Mallis, founder of NYFW; my aunt Stephanie is a brilliant scholar, architect and artist; my sister Brooke who was Chairman of Sotheby’s and just joined Gagosian; and of course my little sister who is making major strides as an artist in Berlin - her work blows my mind.

Lastly obviously because at LD, jewellery is our lifeblood, talk us through yours, both the old and the new.

I can write a whole novel about this! Watch this space.

My staples are my Taffin engagement ring; a family signet ring from a jeweller in London; an Elsa Peretti rose gold bangle that was a friendship bracelet with my mother (we had matching ones that we never took off); a vintage Cartier gold bracelet wrist watch; a custom Solange Azagury script ring from my husband; my charm necklace that is filled with custom charms and lockets; and of course, my Lucy Delius diamond signet pinky ring - it’s like wearing a disco ball on my hand. I couldn’t love it more. Finally, my Elizabeth Gage zodiac ring in a custom turquoise enamel that I got for my eighteenth birthday.

 

From the old, is there something that you inherited, and you can tell us who it belonged to and its significance to you now? Or from childhood do you remember any of the jewellery that your mother or grandmother wore?

I have countless memories of my mother’s and grandmother’s jewellery, a lot of which was sadly stolen. One of the most sacred pieces is my mother’s gold charm bracelet that I inherited. All of the charms from all of her travels always make me emotional. It reminds me to keep traveling and keep my eyes open to my surroundings.

My grandmother’s H Stern Rainbow Sputnik Ring is also one of my sacred pieces. She bought it in Brazil and I love the idea of her traveling and living life to the fullest before she passed.

And for the new, what have you bought or been given more recently? What kind of piece are you drawn to? And what have you got your eye on for the future?

I recently commissioned my friend and jeweller Anna Pierce to make me a trinity ring in 18-karat yellow gold. It has little starbursts and sunbursts engraved with diamonds on four sides of each ring, and an initial on each of the three bands for my husband, son and daughter. I wear it stacked on my pinky with my family signet and never take it off.

I’m always drawn to antique jewellery. I love collecting vintage charms, vintage Boucheron or Chaumet rings, beaded jewellery I layer with gold, and sculptural handmade and hand-engraved jewellery that is unique but timeless.

Finally, I want a Lucy Delius Persephone necklace with a diamond pavé and emerald T-bar pendant like yesterday.

Six of the best. Give us some of your recommendations. What are your favourite -

Podcast: Poog

Book: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Her first book was also one of my favourites, Cleopatra and Frankenstein.

Hotel: The Ocean View Club in Harbour Island. It’s been a beat since I’ve returned here but this is where my husband and I basically fell in love and we got married on their beach.

Beauty product: Turquoise kohl eyeliner by Jillian Dempsey, Rationale Tinted Serum, Egyptian Magic ointment (I use it on my eyelids for a dewy look, as my lip balm and slather it on my kids’ dry skin in the colder months), my Laneige nightly lip mask and water mask for the face, and anything by Luzern for the skin.

London restaurant: River Cafe.

Holiday destination: Jupiter Island with my family. Time stands still there.