Hitomi Jacobs was born and raised in Shizuoka, Japan. After studying Textiles and Fashion Design at two Tokyo Art Institutes, she worked at a young women’s casual apparel firm, then began her own company with two lines of clothes for stores and private customers. Moving to the USA in 1996, Jacobs continued her fashion design work and became interested in jewelry design, taking courses at Richmond Art Center and The College of Marin.
She was asked to join the Marin Jewelers Guild and a few years later went solo, starting Hitomi Designs. Her approach to designing jewelry is to create “soft-looking” pieces using hard materials. She works primarily with silver, gold, pearls and coral. Jacob’s inspiration comes from her reflections of life, observing nature and especially the sea. She enjoys making pieces that adorn and flatter the body. A network of galleries, museum stores, and jewelry stores represent her work and she has also been displayed at art festivals from Bellevue, Washington to Phoenix and Los Angeles.
