Karla Welch welcomed the fine jewelry brand Tabayer to Los Angeles on Tuesday night, cohosting a dinner at Caviar Kaspia with the designer Nigora Tokhtabayeva whose modern knot hoops have been worn by Tracee Ellis Ross, Meghan Markle, Gwyneth Paltrow and many more celebs.
“I didn’t eat all day in preparation for this,” said Olivia Wilde of readying herself to enjoy the restaurant’s divinely decadent dishes, which include smoked salmon and blinis and the famous caviar-topped baked potato, of course.
Besides being an opportunity for pre-holiday merriment — and a chance to wear some sparklers from Tabayer’s collection, including the fair-mined gold Oera earrings, rings and bracelets — the evening had a charity component. Tokhtabayeva is supporting Welch’s nonprofit Period Abundance Foundation by donating 100 percent of proceeds from the Oera ring to the organization for one year.
Jena Malone
Courtesy of Tabayer
Welch had been pulling the jewelry for her clients before she met Tokhtabayeva over Zoom, she explained. “It’s the most beautiful jewelry,” she said. “This is our first time meeting in person, I was placing the jewelry and then she found out about The Period Company. And she has been an incredible supporter of the work we do at the foundation. When the Maui fire happened, she probably took care of about 500 women’s period [products] in Maui who had completely lost care. Just out of the goodness of her heart without any expectations….It’s such a brand with heart. When you are supporting her, you’re supporting something so worthwhile,” Welch told guests, including Wilde, Jena Malone, Courtney Eaton, stylists Erica Cloud, Wayman Deon and Jessica Paster, and designer Ace Harper.
“As a mother of young children, it’s meaningful for me to support an organization that offers women a better relationship with their body and the world,” said Tokhtabayeva, who splits her time between Florida and Italy, where the jewelry is made.
“Everything is around Oera, which is a universal symbol of protection based on the Mesopotamian goddess Innana, a feminist of the 18th century, who created a knot that used to hang outside the doors for protection,” the designer explained, showing off pieces from her collection set up in cases in the back of the restaurant. “It’s very sculptural, it has a sharp edge and smooth curves inspired by Noguchi.”
Nigora Tokhtabayeva
Courtesy of Tabayer
The brand is dedicated to using fair-mined gold, meaning it is procured with minimal environmental impact and better labor practices than industrial mining, she said, sharing photos of a recent visit to a mine she works with in Colombia. She also uses diamonds that are Kimberly Process-certified conflict-free.
“It’s modern, a bit of an alternative to that ‘90s and ‘80s pace we’ve been seeing. And it goes with everything,” said Welch, wearing a chunky gold Oera cuff.
As the vodka started flowing, conversation drifted to holiday plans. Tokhtabayeva was due to set out on a Disney cruise with her five children, while Malone was looking forward to entertaining closer to home. (Her son wants a dessert buffet, she shared.)
There won’t be much downtime for the stylists, however, with award shows scheduled throughout January, beginning with the Golden Globes Jan. 7, and the SAG-AFTRA strike that just ended Nov. 9 putting them all behind for the season.
Just how busy are they? Paster rushed into dinner, sat down for all of 10 minutes, made everyone laugh with her stories per usual, then had to say her goodbyes: “OK, great to see you all, I’ve got a fitting.”