How I Got Here: Susan Cohen’s Magnificent Mechanical Mind

By Karen Dybis | July 02, 2025

A perfect example of how Susan Cohen’s mind works is the newest creation for her jewelry brand, Circa 1700, known as Rollin’ the Dice—a singular cube highlighted with tiny diamonds, an enamel daisy, and answers (in French) to life’s questions.

Those answers? Oui. Non. A question mark. And, perhaps the most delightful of all, C’est fou!—which Cohen explains has multiple meanings, including “It’s crazy!” or “It’s incredible!” She recommends clients use the die like a spinning top to determine their dreams or aspirations.

Another Cohen creation is the Secret Talisman Orb, a customizable globular pendant with one half that rotates gyroscopically to reveal a gemstone-laden design or a portrait of deep meaning to the wearer.

C1700 Rollin' the Dice — *Rollin’ the Dice ($19,900) is designed to help its owner make life decisions, designer Susan Cohen says.*

These jewels show Cohen’s infatuation with mechanics. There are interactive mechanical clasps. Rings with Morse code messages. Pendants whose hidden message can only be read when flipped.

Circa 1700 is partly rooted in Cohen’s philosophy that jewelry is personal expression. The human form is a canvas, she says, and we paint it every day when we select our clothing, accessories, and jewelry.

“Each piece is a brushstroke adding to the imagery of our personal canvas,” says Cohen. “There is no wrong or right way to wear jewelry—find what works for you.

“I like to mix it up with various metals, various designs, and various eras. I tend to lean towards jewelry that is very personal or steeped in symbolism, yet still strive to have it be fun and filled with surprises, and that is where my fascination with mechanical jewelry comes into play.”

C1700 Decision Daisy — *The butterfly in the middle of the Diamond Daisy pendant ($26,000) by Cohen moves like a compass.*

The Los Angeles–based jewelry brand also comes out of Cohen’s upbringing. Her parents met at Cambridge University and emigrated to Canada after they married. Her mother was Slovenian and made sure her children traveled the world. She also loved jewelry and antiques, so she took her daughter to antique shops and markets worldwide.

Cohen’s father attended college at 15 and graduated from Cambridge with a Ph.D. in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. “He was a literal genius,” she says.

“He instilled a curiosity about mechanisms and how things function in me from a very young age,” adds Cohen. “And that curiosity extended to how a mechanical movement can be applied to other uses.

“He definitely taught me to think outside the box. The minute I stumble upon something mechanical, I want to reimagine how it can be applied to the storytelling of jewelry, and I’m drawn to the idea of jewelry that rewards closer inspection by revealing more of itself.”

Cohen started her career in the tech industry, working at Expert Software in Miami from 1996 to 1998. She originally was a product manager, developing products in the games and entertainment division with the likes of Microsoft and McDonald’s, and later served as online manager, overseeing Expert’s entire online division as well as spearheading e-commerce initiatives.

C1700 Horoscopes — *Circa 1700’s Write Your Own Destiny Talismans in 18k yellow gold with varying sizes of modern brilliant-cut oxidized diamonds ($9,000–$10,000 each)*

She moved to California and joined Full Moon Interactive as one of its business development managers. After a year on that job, she became vice president of business development at Path, a position she held from 1999 to 2001.

“After that, I decided to go back to school for film—an industry I am still in, having sold scripts to the likes of Comedy Central and MRC and working on projects with Lionsgate; Ben Stiller’s company, Red Hour; and Legendary,” Cohen says.

While Cohen was a student at the American Film Institute, a classmate asked about her jewelry, and their conversations inspired what has become Circa 1700.

“We discussed that we should start making jewelry, since we were broke and couldn’t afford the jewelry we were drooling over. So my adventures in wire wrapping and stringing beads began,” Cohen says. “I realized that I wanted to start a line that infused my love of antique jewelry and storytelling.”

In designing jewelry for Circa 1700 (which she founded in 2013), Cohen begins with what she wants to wear, and she becomes the first test subject.

“I want to feel emotional about the pieces I design and wear. They need to symbolize something intrinsic to who we are and what we want to say about ourselves,” she says. “Jewelry should be multifaceted in the story it tells or the journey it describes. And all the better if there is a little mystery to it as well.”

Top: Susan Cohen is the founder and designer of Circa 1700, a fine jewelry brand in Los Angeles. (Photos courtesy of Circa 1700)