92NY to Host Taylor Swift Ring Designer Kindred Lubeck

By Karen Dybis | March 23, 2026

A jeweler who turned into a celebrity in her own right after word got out that she designed Taylor Swift’s engagement ring will tell her story during a special event next month at the 92nd Street Y (92NY) in New York.

Kindred Lubeck (pictured) will join Jonathan Wahl, senior director of the 92NY Jewelry Center, for a public event on April 15. Wahl tells JCK they will have a wide-ranging conversation about life, work, and jewelry–including her hopes for a bridal line and high jewelry.

Lubeck is expected to also talk the subsequent flood of interest in her work, and how she’s handling jewelry fame now.

Tickets for the 92Y event cost $35 (with discounts for members and supporters of the 92NY). Streaming access is $25.

“To me, Kindred is a jeweler’s jeweler—her level of craftsmanship and technique is extremely defined for an artist at this point in her career,” Wahl says. “I wanted her to speak at 92NY because she’s an inspiration for jewelers who appreciate and aspire to the master of technique.”

Taylor and Travis engagement ring — *Taylor Swift’s Instagram post in which she debuted her engagement ring by Kindred Lubeck has more than 37 million likes. (Photo: Taylor Swift)*

At the 92NY, Lubeck will share her background in jewelry and her plans for her brand, Artifex—which she’s described as a “fine gold jewelry line crafted by hand, borne of rebellion.”

Based in New York City, Lubeck does intricate hand-engraving—which is what reportedly attracted Swift to her work. Kelce supposedly remembered that when he set out to purchase a custom-designed engagement ring.

Lubeck also specializes in one-of-a-kind natural gemstones, as well as vintage and antique cuts. Swift’s ring is believed to have a sizable old mine-cut diamond.

Lubeck grew up in Neptune Beach, Fla., where her father was a goldsmith. She started working in her father’s shop in late 2019, and after the coronavirus pandemic hit, he began training her in the art of goldsmithing in earnest.

As she improved, Lubeck began sharing her jewelry pieces on social media. She founded Artifex in October 2022, and it is fully self-funded.

Lubeck has studied engraving in Emporia, Kansas; trained with Kent Raible in Washington state; and, most recently, learned high jewelry techniques at the Gerardi school in Rome.

In the months since Swift’s engagement, Lubeck and her jewelry work have been featured in Vogue, People, and USA Today and on the Today show. She’s had a special jewelry auction with Sotheby’s, and anything she puts up for sale on her social media (like her “anti engagement ring”) tends to sell out immediately.

Lubeck has shared the wealth of this unbelievable publicity, putting out the call on her Instagram for Swifties to follow jewelry brands and designers she admires.

(Photo courtesy of 92NY; Photographer Robbie Nero)