People ask me how I came up with the name of my business.  The name was born from a few things - a nod to one of the many nicknames NYC has had, a time in New York City during the Gilded Age, and my love for special place in Casco Bay Maine, Peaks Island, that has a magical dirt road that lasts only about a quarter mile called Knickerbocker Lane.

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I grew up in on the lower east side of New York City in a household that revered all things aesthetic. My father a Designer and Artist, my mother an Architectural Historian and an American Decorative Arts expert. At a young age I identified my passion and interests laid in gems and jewelry.

I grew up in two very different worlds going to school on the upper east side while living on the lower east side. Weekends were spent in Greenwich Village surrounded by thick black eyeliner, ripped fishnet stockings and mohawks while during the school week I was surrounded by bright Lilly Pulitzer patterns, monogramed sweaters and all things Tiffany.

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In my free time I would go home on the 5th ave bus so I could stop and walk around the jewelry district on 47th street or go to the Forbes Gallery down the street from the Parson School of design to drool over the Fabergé Egg collection. One of my favorite Christmas presents was a membership to the MET. I loved spending my Saturdays walking though the Roman, Greek, and Egyptian wings to look at the ancient jewelry, or sketch in the American Wing surrounded by the saturated colors of the Tiffany-stained glass windows.

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My education began at home. My teachers were Mother and Father. No matter where we were any interesting object were pointed out to me. “I spy” was a favorite game of my mothers.  I was taught to know how things were made and what they were made out of. My mother held a masters in American Decorative Arts, one of the first women to attend Winterthur as a graduate student and was also an architectural historian and preservationist. My Father one of many artists and designers in his family to run the Rambusch Lighting & Decorating Company, which specializing in custom architectural lighting, stained glass, sculptures and mosaics. The company is 125 years old with my twin brothers currently at the helm.

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Summers were spent in a 200+ year old farm house that had original Shaker built-in designs, furniture and even relics from the Civil war. The house was filled with historical objects from centuries of the families who lived there before us.

 

One of my mother’s and my favorite summer activities was going to “tag-sales” in the Berkshires. We were always on the hunt to find a treasure. She would always explain to me if something was or was not “real” and why. I’d find a teacup and she tell me what exactly it was made of and based on the shape, materials and design she would place the date it was made. When it came to jewelry she taught me about stones, how to identify real versus glass versus pearls and so on. My father with his background in design would then explain to me fabrication techniques to pretty much anything – from mosaics and frescos and bronze castings to one of a kind decorative piece. How does one make enamel or a mosaic or why use brass versus copper for a certain piece of art. Let’s just say I was lucky and basically got the equivalent of a fine arts degree just growing up in this incredible household!

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Despite my upbringing and love of art, history, antiques, all things vintage, anthropology, nature and of course jewelry, corporate America was where I ended up. After graduating college from Johns Hopkins and a Master’s in Business from Denver University I dove into start-ups and technology.

 

I had a great career specializing in Customer Experience during the day, but in my spare time was in the studio learning from masters how to gold-smith, silver-smith and enamel. Fall of 2023 I launched Knickerbocker Lane Jewelry. 

 

I hope you enjoy my work.