Terry Castro (1972–2022)
Terry Castro was a jewelry designer and sculptor whose work blurred the boundaries between jewelry, sculpture, and storytelling. Born in Toledo, Ohio, he spent fifteen years drawing on an unusually broad range of sources — mythology, religion, medieval art, architecture, natural history, literature, and personal memory — and fusing them into a distinctive visual language rooted in Gothic intricacy and industrial material. Every piece was handcrafted as an individual work of art, carrying layers of symbolism and narrative.
Castro relocated to New York City in 2006, where his SoHo atelier on Prince Street became a destination for collectors. His work entered the hands of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Michele Lamy, Steven Tyler, Whoopi Goldberg, and Woody Harrelson. He exhibited at Sotheby's Brilliant and Black and collaborated with De Beers and Muzo.
In 2016, Castro moved to Istanbul, deepening his technical practice alongside master craftsmen in the Grand Bazaar. He died there in July 2022, at fifty, leaving behind an estate of singular objects and a body of work that never followed a trend.
SK Castro
SK Castro inherited the practice at twenty-two. They are Terry Castro's child and the current director of Castro NYC, working from a studio in New York.
SK brought Terry's story to The New York Times, Forbes, Vogue, and Wallpaper, and partnered with Carpenters Workshop Gallery on Castro NYC: Futurespective, the first major retrospective dedicated to Terry Castro's work, exhibited in London in October 2024.
Today, Castro NYC operates with two intertwined missions: preserving Terry Castro's artistic legacy while developing new work through SK's contemporary practice. Jewelry here is both personal adornment and cultural artifact. The first collection under SK's own name, A Doll's House, arrives in 2026.
The house continues to shape contemporary conversations around jewelry and culture. In 2026, Terry Castro’s Falcon Crest pendant was worn by Madonna at the Met Gala. The moment reflected what has long defined Castro NYC: jewelry that carries history, meaning, and emotional resonance beyond the object itself.