Meet Jane Yuan-Smith | REFIND Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jane Yuan-Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jane, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always been drawn to the circular economy, especially buying and selling luxury items like handbags, shoes, and clothes. I loved finding deals, selling things I no longer needed, and embracing the sustainability of it all.

However, when it came to fine jewelry, I noticed a gap. Resale options were limited, cluttered, and lacked curation on most platforms, where jewelry felt overlooked, compared to other categories.

This sparked an idea—I realized the fine jewelry market needed its own dedicated space. My goal was to create a specialized resale platform focused solely on fine jewelry, offering a curated destination to buy and sell preloved pieces and let them be reloved for as long as possible.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
REFIND is a fine jewelry resale marketplace, we believe in the value of what already exists, and our vision is to contribute to a more circular future for fine jewelry — and our community is the heart of everything we do. That’s why we’re beyond grateful for everyone who has believed in us and what we are building.

It was the enthusiasm and early encouragement from our first handful of sellers that helped us create a circular home for preloved fine gems. Brooke DeVard of Naked Beauty, Rocky Barnes, Camilla Marcus of Westbourne, Ashleigh Bergman of Milestones, Alissa Matkovich of Stacked by Reservoir — they all trusted in us with their precious pieces, they were like our first “investors” to help us get started.

We’ve also been fortunate enough to have incredible buyers who appreciated our curation of preloved gems — Vanessa C in Palisades, Lilee S in Venice to Kim N in Beverly Hills and more — their support to relove preloved has helped us grow this special tribe of jewelry lovers, where sellers become buyers and buyers become sellers, creating a true full-circle experience.

We love creating a platform that connects the jewelry community — we’re excited to have jewelry designers like Shylee Rose, Octavia Elisabeth, Scosha and Hoorsenbuhs embracing our mission as we continue to grow organically. REFIND aims to lead change, build trust, and foster community in the jewelry resale industry. As our community expands, so does our positive impact!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We are such foodies, and my favorite part of Los Angeles is the cultural diversity, you can be transported to any country and eat their authentic cuisine in your own backyard. With 2 young kids, we usually opt for family-friendly options. For Taiwanese food, we love Pine and Crane, Korean BBQ — Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, for DimSum — Lunasia. But we also love going places that are unique and always guaranteed a delicious meal like Republique and Gjusta for brunch, and Bestia for dinner and Pace in Laurel Canyon, because it’s a classic and it’s near our house.

We also love to show visitors how much nature there is in Los Angeles, which surprises a lot of people. We hike Fryman and Franklin Canyon, go to the Malibu Lagoon for the tide pools, love the waterfall hike at Eaton Canyon, and picnic at Lacy Park in San Marino.

And the city always has something fun to do, a comedy show on Sunset Blvd, to Smorgasburg at The Row, and a concert at iconic venues like Hollywood Bowl to small ones like Lodge Room.

Website: https://www.joinrefind.com

Instagram: @_REFIND_

Image Credits
Belathee Photography for REFIND