About Astali
Astali jewelry is hand-crafted and designed by NYC-based artist, Shannon Astali DeJong. Since her childhood in rural Iowa, Shannon has been collecting discarded objects and crafting them into something new. She would often rescue materials from unexpected places and use them to fashion ornate gifts. She eventually began to customize jewelry and would find ways to turn just about anything into an adornment.In 1997, Shannon threw everything she owned into her car and moved to Los Angeles with dreams of playing her violin in a rock band. Within a week of arriving, she was already playing with a local rock band and performed her first gig.
During the day, Shannon spent time cultivating her passion for jewelry design, and worked behind the scenes for many successful Los Angeles jewelry designers. She worked her way from production, to sample-making, to design, and then onto managing both design and production teams. She always kept a home studio to refine her skills and design concepts. Her double life as a designer-by-day and rocker-by-night culminated in the birth of a line attributed to an alter-ego she named Jack Astali. As the line evolved, its subversive, rebellious nature emerged. Hallmarks of Astali designs include rugged and unexpected materials