The Collectors: Deborah Berke

Like many New Yorkers, architect Deborah Berke dresses in monochromatic black, an ideal backdrop for her modernist jewelry. “I don’t feel fully dressed unless I have a pair of earrings on,” says the founder of TenBerke Architects and dean of the Yale School of Architecture. Berke’s love of visual arts, curiosity, and pursuit of authenticity—all driving forces in her architectural practice—also apply to her jewelry selections. Over the past decade, she has discovered a range of artisans through her longtime friend Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos, who founded the Mahnaz Collection in New York, specializing in modernist jewelry from the 1950s to today.

Personal philosophy: “I don’t care if it is macramé or bronze; it is about the design,” says Berke, whose early acquisitions include a 1970 sterling silver and porcelain necklace by the Danish company Anton Michelsen in collaboration with Royal Copenhagen and midcentury bronze pieces by late American jeweler and sculptor Jack Boyd.

Favorite finds: “I inherited my mother’s Native American turquoise-and-silver jewelry, and Mahnaz helped me identify those makers and discover other interesting artists, such as Edison Cummings, whose work is exquisite. I also like Eveli Sabatie, a great French North African jeweler, who moved to the American Southwest, where she lived on a Hopi reservation and trained with Charles Loloma, and later they influenced each other’s work.”

Prized possessions: “Roberto Burle Marx’s pieces mean the most to me because of the nature of his practice and his profound influence on landscape architecture. In his garden designs, you see stone patterning, the textures, the swoops and curves, the colors of plants, and he brought that incredible sensitivity of material and deftness of hand to his jewelry.”

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Late Fall Issue under the headline “The Collectors.” Subscribe to the magazine.