Toni Pahr was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and, as a young girl, grew up in Ankara, Turkey, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Further travel has taken her to parts of the world such as Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal, Indonesia, parts of Europe, & more.

Travel has become a way for the designer to see the world as an open canvas from which her inspiration is drawn. Her passion for jewelry-making began in high school and soon extended into the art of beading.

She became an accredited gemologist from the Asian Institute of Gemological Science and worked as a quality control manager for various companies within the manufacturing facilities. In the early 1990s, she moved to New Orleans and worked as a designer, stone buyer, and retailer for Sabai Jewelry Gallery. She furthered her knowledge of jewelry by studying silversmithing in Taxco, Mexico, and later acquired her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus on metals and jewelry at Maine College of Art.

She wishes that whoever owns a piece of Wingspan Jewelry knows it was made purely out of love of the craft. In essence, as each bead was strung upon another it became a form of meditation or rhythmic dance bet the maker and the piece of jewelry. Enjoy.