Mead and Boatright do a lot of antique shopping together, but not for jewelry. Boatright tends to wear her grandmother’s, and Mead doesn’t like “to do jewelry based on jewelry,” he says. He’s more likely to buy strange objects for the house or books like this one, called Take Ivy. “It’s just a picturebook full of old cars, guys standing around in the science lab, dudes biking around on these old bikes. A lot of the jewelry I just made is based on that preppy lifestyle, pennant necklaces and megaphones.” The book is originally Japanese, and Mead notes: “America in Japan is so huge. When I was trying to sell my belt buckles in the Japanese market, they told me they weren’t ready yet because I hadn’t punched “USA” on the back of them. Once I did, they sold like crazy.”