Yupadee Kobkulboonsiri, a jewelry designer and artist, has died of COVID-19.
She was 51.
The New York Times writes that Kobkulboonsiri created “fantastical” jewelry, such as “neck cuffs with silver springs ending in pearls that looked like asteroids” and “necklaces that looped over a shoulder and erupted in diamonds and pearls.”
A Bangkok native who moved to New York and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Kobkulboonsiri was honored in a variety of trade competitions. She eventually taught at the institute.
Her husband, Steven Fishman, has started a campaign on GoFundMe for a memorial project.
Fishman wrote: “Yupadee was a devout Buddhist; during her intubation, we are confident that she was meditating, and have faith that she left this earth to reach Nirvana. It was Yupadee’s wish to have a small cabin, called a kuti, built in her honor at Temple Forest Monastery, a place that was very dear to her heart.”
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Kobkulboonsiri passed away at Broolyn’s Woodhull Medical Center on April 27, the Times reports.
“Yupadee lived her life with kindness, compassion and a playful exuberance,” Fishman wrote. “Like the precious gems in her workshop, she radiated beauty and light.”
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
