A visionary who has spent her life searching the globe for unusual objects, Dian Malouf is a nationally recognized jewelry designer, published author, mother and obsessive measurer of electromagnetic fields. Her classic gold and silver jewelry lines have previewed at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Saks, and her book of photographs and interviews with reclusive ranchers, The Cattle Kings of Texas is now a collector’s piece. As a jewelry designer, Malouf brings new meaning to the craft. She frequently incorporates her passion for environmental causes and political and social themes into her designs.
Silver Twist Link Bracelet By Dian Malouf
She has extracted subtle textures from food and grain to develop her line called The Food Chain. Her Life, Love and Liberty line celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall. Her more whimsical lines such as Harley Honey and Biker Babe is an upscale biker look, and Horsin Around captures the equestrian crowds.
In late 1997, Dian debuted her first faceted line Watercolors. Before she discovered her penchant for jewelry design, Malouf traveled 40,000 miles and ten years researching the reclusive Texas ranchers for her first book, The Cattle Kings of Texas (now out of print.) While working from her 175-year old adobe home in Santa Fe, New Mexico to complete The Cattle Kings of Texas, Dian began searching the area for a silver ring of significance. When she couldn’t find one to her liking, she decided to design her own. And so the jewelry business began. Dian also designs signature one-of-a-kind pieces featuring unique stones and artifacts. Bold and powerful, they have a distinctive Malouf style. Celebrities such as Cher, Elton John and Linda Ronstadt are among those who have taken a liking to the Dian Malouf line.
Malouf is a native of the South Texas Brush Country near the Mexican border. She shares time between her homes in Dallas and Santa Fe with her husband Don. Dian is also the mother of four children. Dian continues to create original jewelry designs and is has now completed her book “Seldom Heard,” which is available now.
Sterling Silver and Pearl Ring By Dian Malouf
Dian Leatherberry Malouf
Place and date of birth: Houston; Aug. 5, 1942
Occupation: Jewelry designer, author, photographer
Family: Husband Don; children Blake, Carter, Spencer and Brooke.
Favorite jewelry designers: If I had one, I probably wouldn’t be in the business.
Favorite authors: Katherine Anne Porter, William Least Heat-Moon, T.R. Fehrenbach, Paul Horgan, Isabel Allende
Favorite artists: The Dallas Nine, David Bates, Roger Winter, James Surls, Ed Bearden, anything Texas-related from the 1930s and 1940s
Favorite photographers: David Gibson, Moses Olmos
The best advice I could give a 20-year-old: “Read something every day and finish a book every two weeks.”
My last meal would be: Steak tartare and a wonderful red wine
My worst habit: Biting my fingernails
My pet peeves: Insincere people; abject greed when it involves profit vs. the environment
I drive: An old, dark green Volvo station wagon
Guests at my fantasy dinner: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, Arthur Schlessinger Jr.
Nobody knows: How serious I really am
Rings By Dian Malouf
Website: Dian Malouf
