When Sarah Ysabel Narici was a child, she was captivated by stories of her great-grandmother, who was captured as a prisoner of war during Japan’s invasion of Singapore and bartered the jewelry she smuggled into camp for milk and medicine for family and friends. That memory, passed down through stories, became Narici’s first connection to jewelry — not only as adornment, but as survival, legacy and meaning.

Today, as the founder of Dyne, the British Italian designer channels that same reverence into her work, crafting pieces that speak in glyphs, evoke ancient forms and are true to her creative spirit.

Founded in 2022, Dyne is named after her mother’s maiden name, as it was her mom who encouraged Narici to pursue art instead of law. From attending Central Saint Martins and the Gemological Institute of America to working for Alexander McQueen, Stephen Webster, Marina B and Lorraine Schwartz, her résumé reads like a who’s who of jewelry design. Brimming with ideas and the desire to explore her creative expanse, Narici started Dyne with a set of wedding bands for her husband and herself.

“I think for most designers, it’s about having your vision and being able to do your own thing,” Narici said. “Jewelry has so many different aspects to wrap your head around. I started in accessories and fashion jewelry, but learned very quickly that I preferred the slow pace of fine jewelry. And it kind of matched my kind of creative process better.”

Dyne is not built around seasonal collections or trend-driven merchandising. Instead, Narici prefers to present bodies of work at art and design fairs like PAD and Salon Art + Design in New York, where she has longer lead times between each showing. Her pieces often begin with a concept rather than a stone or material, and she gravitates toward themes that resonate with her personally, such as Protection — the name of her current series shown at Salon just a few days ago alongside the works of artist Kara Chin.

“Protection felt pertinent at this point in time, because with so many crazy things happening in the world, I think this feeling of [being] overwhelmed is something that everyone can relate to,” Narici explained. “I’m distilling that into something that feels not scary or dark but something soft and vulnerable and sort of homey.”

Museum-like pieces such as a “Bud” torque necklace made of emerald, jadeite and white diamond; a pear-shape step-cut diamond with rock crystal, sapphire, amethyst and peridot ring, and a 15-carat Peruvian opal and 21-carat Morganite with pink sapphires chandelier earrings made up this series, driving home the very idea of wearable art. Prices for Dyne jewelry start at $11,000, with the average between $40,000 to $50,000.

“Participating in this year’s fair was an opportunity to think through ideas alongside other makers who approach form as inquiry. Kara Chin and I responded to a shared theme through different materials — ceramics and jewelry — but from the same impulse to start with a question rather than a design. The fair encourages that kind of exchange, where process and thought sit at the forefront. It’s about conversation — how objects can hold ideas, and how making can become a way of thinking,” explained the first-time Salon Art + Design participant.

Dyne’s aesthetic is bold and unapologetic, attracting a clientele of confident, creative women. “Our jewelry isn’t for everyone,” Narici admitted. “It’s for someone who’s quite daring, and is willing to take a risk.”

Celebrities like Rihanna, Cynthia Erivo and Charlie XCX have worn her pieces. As exciting as it is to see her creations on famous people, Narici is equally moved by seeing those who care about self-expression wear her jewelry.

Visibility has grown organically for the brand, often through intimate events that blur the lines between art, design and jewelry. One standout was a trunk show at the salon of curator Ashlee Harrison, which is located in a brownstone on the Upper East Side, where the jewelry was displayed alongside curated food installations. “There was a really interesting crossover of art collectors and furniture collectors who were interested in design, who really appreciated the pieces,” Narici recalled.

When not working on pieces for her upcoming shows, Narici works with clients on bespoke commissions.

“I think [engagement rings] are really interesting because it’s often the first time that someone has invested so much of themselves in an artistic project,” professed the designer, continuing, “I think that kind of doing a little bit of soul searching is really exciting, and that actually influences what the final thing will be. Some people want to pay homage to their history. And you know how maybe two different histories are coming together, or two different families are coming together.”

The act of introspection to realize a physical object stemmed from the development of Narici’s own wedding bands, which included stylized symbolic glyphs that evoked hieroglyphics. This evolved into a series of pieces called the “Lover Glyphs,” which invites clients to share what matters to them that the designer then distills into symbolic glyphs embedded in gold. “The emotional response people have to these simple pieces is so powerful because of what they stand for,” she said.

“What mattered in the past, what matters in the future, what part of the past we want to take into the future,” Narici explained, “are the two points I always come back into work.”

Her design process is meticulous, offering three iterations and taking up to six months for completion. All bespoke pieces are crafted in nearby workshops, allowing Narici to stay close to the development process. “Proximity is important,” she said, “especially when you’re doing something different each time.”

Now based in New York City, Narici moved from London in 2017 to be with her now husband. “Ultimately, if you’re in this world, there aren’t so many obvious cities. To me, the ones in Europe I’d already done,” Narici said. “New York felt like a big new adventure that made sense.”

That spirit of adventure continues to define Dyne. Whether through ancient-inspired glyphs or futuristic forms, Narici’s work invites wearers to carry their stories forward, one piece at a time.