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If you’re in the jewelry community on Instagram, a typical day involves scrolling through your feed. You’ll no doubt encounter karat gold jewelry on a daily basis. In fact, you’ll probably see 50-100 pieces each day if you follow enough accounts like I do. It is easy to become jaded to this highly prized metal – whether it be a gold ring forged by hand, a chain made out of links that were each hammered with the utmost care, or a bracelet that was finished with a satin texture from a method passed down through generations of jewelers. A photo never depicts all the labor and love that goes into a piece – there are so many stages of creation — rough gold, raw materials, a sketch or CAD rendering. On top of so many steps in preparation — buying gems and karat gold, having all the tools ready, along with the skill necessary to make the piece being envisioned. We often scroll right by special pieces that have such a story to tell, with hours and hours of prep and labor to create it, and a small business owner behind it. I’m personally being more mindful of this with all that is going on with engagement on Instagram, which is often the sole spot for designers to advertise their wares without spending advertising money.
I love connecting with Makers every year during May Is Gold Month. It re-energizes my love for jewelry and beckons me to slow down and enjoy each piece I see. Stop and ask questions – learn about the designer behind the pieces – how is everything connected and what the bigger meaning is. I’m excited to show and share with my audience these six makers and get their take on this precious metal we all love to celebrate each May – GOLD!
Our May Is Gold Month features have kicked off this week and every Wednesday there will be a featured maker interview posted on my Instagram account. Every maker in this feature uses karat gold within their designs and has agreed to voice their take on this special metal. Hope you enjoy!
Future Fortune Jewelry
How is karat gold important in your work?
Gold is important to my work because it’s the foundation to creating my designs and having them come to life. It is a beautiful metal that has been treasured for generations. I strictly work with 18k gold, and have always loved its richness and color. With the majority of pieces in my collection, the gold weight is substantial which represents the signature look of the brand.
Why do you like working with karat gold?
I like working with gold because I’ve always loved the elegance, richness and color of gold. As a fine jewelry designer, I find gold to be an endlessly inspiring material to work with. What I love about gold is the compatibility to pair with a variety of colored gemstones and diamonds.
Gold is the perfect canvas for highlighting the beauty and brilliance of these stunning natural gemstones.
Learn more about Future Fortune Jewelry here.
Hemlock Street Jeweler
How is karat gold important in your work?
Working with gold is important to me because it’s what puts my work into the fine jewelry category. Using gold also differentiates me as a designer from the perceived “hobbyist” to a professional jeweler. Designing with gold adds a lot of value to my work and I also think it speaks to the integrity that my designs carry as well. I work really intentionally and I make things with the idea that they’re going to be around for a while. From my perspective, a piece that’s going to be valuable to someone else is something that’s made well, made with good intentions behind it, and also made with those valuable materials.
Why do you like working with karat gold?
Well, gold is very desirable. It has been and always will be for a consumer and even more so for me as a jeweler. It’s a great medium to work with. In the end, it’s nice to have something that’s valuable when you put hours and hours of fabrication into a design. You don’t want to invest in someone’s art if the medium doesn’t match, you know? Not only that, gold is beautiful. It can be alloyed into so many different tones to suit a client (or project) whether it’s a bright yellow or a white with a hint of warmth to it. I think the biggest benefit of using gold in my work is how it continues to push me to develop my skill set. I have a commitment to this craft and I believe it’s something that has the ability to keep me learning and intrigued for life.
Learn more about Hemlock Street Jeweler here.
Kimberly Doyle Jewelry
How is karat gold important in your work?
Gold is important in my work for a number of reasons but one of the main is because of its value. Jewelry has so much intrinsic value and to layer that with the added value of gold really makes jewelry my favorite luxury. I like to think of jewelry as a smart luxury because of its universal value. In fact women use to wear gold jewelry as part of their dowry. I think the modern woman can wear their jewels as a sort of investment, like a precious metal 401k. I’ll never forget when I first realized the potential of such a valued metal. I had a client bring me a gold piece of jewelry that they bought many years ago and the price had gone up about x 10! To give you an example in 2000 gold was under $300 an ounce and today it’s around $2000!
Why do you like working with karat gold?
I love working with gold because It’s such a versatile metal there are so many applications it can used in, not just jewelry. It can be worn, eaten, and even used to make components for your iPhone. But really I love the way it looks- I recently changed to an all gold girl myself, my engagement ring used to be platinum but I’ve reimagined it into 18k gold and I absolutely love it! I also love that’s it’s been the noble metal of choice for centuries I think the oldest found gold ring dates back to 2500 bc. Lastly and perhaps one of the biggest aspects of why I love working with gold is because it’s a big part of California’s history, where I was born and raised. Famously known for the California gold rush and even nicknamed the golden state, this noble metal is such a big part of who I am.
Learn more about Kimberly Doyle Jewelry here.
Arielle Routhier
How is karat gold important in your work?
Gold as a material is super important to my work for a handful of reasons. We all know that gold is this beautiful material that has this incredible luster and value. It is rooted in antiquity and branches into traditions, spanning cultures from corner to corner of the globe and even close to home, family to family. I feel like gold really gives my pieces a sense of sophistication, elegance and luxury to them, which then translates to my clients. They feel good wearing the pieces! I use 10k, 14k, 18k and 22k – We haven’t worked in 24 yet! I use these alloys based off of conversations that I have with my clients. We talk about what their lifestyle is like, they want to wear these pieces every day. Gold will last forever, and for something like my fingerprints I tend to go with a 10k so that it holds the ridges of the fingerprints, you can rub the prints and not be worried about rubbing them smooth. Something like a wedding band, we will do 18k or 22k and it picks up a really nice patina over time, it gets all those dings of life. And then piece really shows that it’s loved and worn! I think that gold is one of the only materials that really allows for that and looks better over time. In my personal opinion, I think that a beautiful, polished, clean piece is amazing, but when somebody’s been wearing their piece for a while and it has all those marks of life, that’s when I really love the gold pieces the most!
Why do you like working with karat gold?
I love working with gold because it challenges me. It’s a precious material that, like we’ve said, has incredible value to it. So you have to be mindful when working with gold. I carve wax – All of my pieces, for the most part, are lost wax cast. While I’m going through this process of carving and designing, I definitely respect that I’m working with gold. The fact that this material has been around for ages and is a rare material, I try to be super mindful with those designs. Gold has been a material that’s been used for centuries to create jewelry, I’m still doing that and I feel privileged to work with it. It’s humbling and rewarding to be able to bring a piece of wax to life using these same techniques with this material and cast it into this precious object that somebody’s going to love and hand down for years to come. I’m proud to be a part of that process, that’s for sure!
Learn more about Arielle Routhier here.
Meili Fine Jewelry
How is karat gold important in your work?
Gold holds a special place in my heart because it was my families gold heirlooms that introduced me to jewelry, and it’s a crucial component of my collections because not only is gold the only metal that doesn’t turn my skin green (!) it’s a stunningly beautiful metal that is highly versatile that allows me to design and create jewelry pieces that embody both bold- classic and fine-contemporary styles.
Why do you like working with karat gold?
Working with gold has always been a passion of mine, and I feel like I’m continuing a rich artistic tradition that extends far beyond the scope of my own work. Gold has been used to create some of the most stunning and enduring works of art throughout history, and I’m honored to be able to add my own creations to this ongoing legacy. What’s particularly exciting for me is knowing that the jewelry I create will not only last a lifetime but also become part of each wearer’s own unique story as it evolves over time. Whether it’s an engagement ring, a family heirloom, or a statement piece for a special occasion, every piece of gold jewelry has a story to tell, and I feel privileged to be a part of that narrative.
Learn more about Meili Fine Jewelry here.
Svetlana Lazar Design
How is karat gold important in your work?
Gold is important in my work because I strive to make lasting treasures for people. Gold is my chosen precious metal to create with. It has many qualities that lend itself to my work. It can be cast, formed, shaped and carved. It has a gorgeous reflective surface when polished and adds a luxuriance that no other metal does. My work features lots of rich texture and subtle reflection and nods to history and fantasy. So it’s a perfect fit. Also, due to its properties, it is the perfect metal for a ring setting I’ve invented which mimics the movement of water beneath a gem. High karat gold is at the core of my designs (18 karat is my favorite to work with), and it is in combination with that gold, the hand working of it, and the carefully chosen gemstones that truly create a unique treasure for each wearer.
Why do you like working with karat gold?
I love working with gold. I love it for its beauty, lustrousness, warmth and depth of color. It comes from the earth but resembles the sun. And like the sun, it never fails to attract the eye with its glow and energizing nature. I want to adorn myself with it and I want to adorn others with it that much more.
I also love that gold can be used, reused, reclaimed, and reworked infinitely into new forms of adornment. I love that my work is made with some of these ancient atoms that made their way down through generations of jewelers’s hand and generations of wearers, carrying all of their stories, secrets, and bits of history within itself.
As we wear our gold pieces we get to imbed our own history into it before it is reborn into its next shape and life. I still get excited every time my hands get to do some of that shaping.
Learn more about Svetlana Lazar Design here.
This sponsored post was brought to you in collaboration with May Is Gold Month.
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