Canton Jewelry Designer Cristina Hurley

moved to Canton in 2002 when she and husband Michael, a Canton native moved back here from New York City with their daughter.

In New York Hurley worked for a high end jewelry company, "Reinstein-Ross" as a goldsmith for six years. She opened her showroom in Canton two years ago located at 3 Rockland St.

Hurley grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was exposed to the arts by her parents. Hurley's mother was an opera singer and her father was the conductor for the Puerto Rico Symphony.

Her father's boss was married to a jewelry designer Jeanette Fossas. It was through Fossas that Hurley gained experience working with metals and gold. She took a class taught by Fossas and put a portfolio of her work together and applied to Rhode Island School of Design where she was accepted and graduated in 1996. At RISD Hurley developed her own signature style.

"Often times jewelry can be flat" said Hurley. "I wanted to achieve something three dimentional. The foundation of my work is squares and pyramids. I take a basic shape and start with that but not end up with that shape."

Most of the photos that accompany this story are custom orders for Canton clients that she's made over the past few months at Cristina Hurley Jewelry.