History of John Hardy Jewelers
John Hardy is known for his sterling silver jewelry designs using four Balinese jewelry-making techniques; woven chain, woven mesh, grandulation and cut work. John Hardy, a Canadian designer and artist founded John Hardy Jewelers in 1989. After visiting and falling in love with Bali in the 1970’s, Hardy began learning the techniques of the local jewelers. He created his own style by using design techniques of the Balinese community. In 1999, Guy Bedarida joined John Hardy as the Head Designer and added to his earlier jewelry making methods with more traditional European jewelry methods influenced by nature and “ancient East Asian art styles and themes”. In 2007, John Hardy Jewelers was purchased by Damien Dernoncourt and Guy Bedarida. John Hardy Jewelers sells to Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Nordstroms and other retailers throughout the United States. They also sell in Asia, the Middle East, Le Bon Marche in Paris, Harrods in the United Kingdom and in the Caribbean through independent retailers. A little known fact about John Hardy Jewelers is their contribution to give back to nature by offsetting their greenhouse gas and carbon emissions through their “Greener Everyday Program”. This program donates bamboo seedlings to the Bali Green and Clean event. In 2010, they donated 600,000 bamboo seedlings. The company’s slogan is “Greener Every Day” in its efforts to be a “green” company working to become carbon neutral. Their hopes are that through their example, other companies and individuals will do the same. They plant bamboo on Bali and Nusa Penida, an island off of Bali. A portion of the proceeds come from their “Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo” program. John Hardy Jewelers also created their Jobs for Life program to help under-privileged Balinese children in the completion of their secondary education which is not provided by the Indonesian government. “Vocational training in design, Internal Technology, Human Resources and Culinary Arts are provided at the John Hardy compound”.
