Houston Style Setters Dine Under a Supermoon With Fine Jewelry Wows — Surya and the Moon Makes Its H-Town Debut

As if by design, the year’s largest Supermoon cast a dreamy glow onto the garden at Tiny Boxwood’s, where two female founders Dr. Sneha Calarese and Keri Clavin were introducing a select group of Houston’s style setters to their stunning fine jewelry brand Surya and the Moon.

Tara Martin, of DTLA Custom and The Creative Brand Consultancy, served as the local co-host of the dinner and helped curate the guest list, which included Natalie Steen, Kathryn Swaine, Valerie Dittner, Chiara Casiraghi, Tiffany Jais, and Marzi Fatemizadeh, who were all lended Surya and the Moon jewels to wear for the evening. Nancy Bihlmaier of Nancy B. Creative, whose custom calligraphy graced the evening’s place cards; and Devorah Krieger, Brittany Sakowitz, Lauren Dunwoody, Kaleta Blaffer Johnson, Hayden Lasher McGuiness, Allison O’Neill, Illa Gaunt, Lindley Arnoldy, and Linsay Radcliffe also added plenty of glamour. The lucky attendees sipped on palomas and margaritas before enjoying a delicious three course meal culminating in Tiny’s famous chocolate chip cookie skillets.

Calarese and Clavin shared the poetic story behind Surya and the Moon. Surya is Sanskrit for sun and was inspired by the profound heritage and stories behind inherited jewelry and marries modern aesthetics with traditional Indian craftsmanship and ethically sourced fine gemstones and gold. The brand’s origins lie in a sorrowful moment four years ago that resulted in an epiphany about the timelessness of jewelry and the energy it carries — Calarese’s mother passed away and Calarese inherited all of the family jewelry.

As she was going through the estate collection with her friend Clavin, they both realized how special the heirlooms really were, many of them custom-made by artisans in India decades ago.

“We were going through my mother’s, and my grandmother’s, and my great-grandmother’s pieces, and every piece of jewelry had a story. And these stories need to be told,” Calarese explained. “A lot of us know what it is to go through all these years of trials and tribulations and then finally make it.

“These earrings have stood the test of time, these are my grandmother’s and now I am the proud owner of them,” Calarese continued as she pointed to the brand’s trademark Surya earrings, which are a golden sunburst that symbolize an eternal energy felt with each sunrise and sunset.

Calarese, an Arizona-based renowned plastic surgeon originally from Mumbai, and Clavin, a North Carolina-based fashion retail expert, often travel to India to create Surya and the Moon’s timeless, wearable fine jewelry necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Guests, who were each gifted a hand-cut and hand-painted marble jewelry tray, were invited to shop these remarkable pieces the following day at Steen’s new trunk show destination The Note Pad in Upper Kirby.

Recent special collections include the limited-edition Green Earth collection, laced with emeralds in honor of the earth’s tremendous beauty, and the Hummingbird Effect collection, which includes subtle single gold 18k gold studs, and one-of-a-kind painted enamel hummingbird studs with tiny gemstone eyes. Both collections benefit Daughters for Earth, which contributes to the fight against climate change.

Surya and the Moon is currently available via its website, at Greenwich Street Jewelers in New York, Kirna Zabete in East Hampton, New York and Palm Beach, Florida.