Inside Our Asheville Studio: How Each Piece Is Made
Every piece of Gold Gold Gold jewelry passes through our hands dozens of times before it reaches yours. From the first sketch to the final polish, we control every step of the process in our Asheville studio. Here's what that actually looks like.
The Space
Our studio is located in the Refinery building on Coxe Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina, a creative hub that houses artists, makers, and small manufacturers. It's a compact, intentional space filled with the tools of our trade: files, pliers, torches, a casting setup, and the quiet hum of focused work.
We chose Asheville deliberately. The proximity to Penland School of Craft, the mountain culture that values slowness and intention, and the community of makers here all align with how we want to work. Before Asheville, we spent over a decade in Stockholm and time in Amsterdam, where we developed our design sensibility: minimal, restrained, rooted in material integrity. That perspective shapes everything we make.
Design and Development
Every piece in our collection starts as a sketch or a material experiment. We design everything from scratch, drawing on our training in Scandinavian and Dutch design traditions. Our aesthetic leans minimal, but minimal with warmth. We're not interested in trends or fast fashion. We're interested in pieces that feel essential, that you'll want to wear for decades.
For complex forms, we use Rhino 3D modeling software to work out precise geometries before anything touches metal. But the digital tools are always in service of the hand. A 3D print is just one small step in a process that remains fundamentally handmade.
Rooted in Craft
Gold Gold Gold was born during our residency at Penland School of Craft, one of the most prestigious craft residencies in the United States. That year gave us the time and space to develop our voice as makers and to commit fully to a practice built on traditional metalsmithing techniques.
We brought that commitment with us to Asheville, and it's informed by our combined experience teaching jewelry and metalsmithing at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Five years of full-time teaching deepened our understanding of craft pedagogy and reinforced our belief that high-level craftsmanship is worth celebrating, not hiding behind marketing language. When we say handmade, we mean it.
The Making Process
Most of our work is cast using the lost-wax method. We carve or print a model, create a mold, and cast it in solid sterling silver or 14k gold. No plating, no vermeil, no hollow forms. Solid metal, every time.
Casting requires precision and attention. The metal is heated to over 1000°F in a crucible before being drawn into the mold by vacuum or centrifugal force. It's physical work, and it demands respect for the material.
After casting, the real benchwork begins. Each piece is cleaned, filed, sanded, and polished by hand. We check for porosity, surface quality, and structural integrity. This is where the hours accumulate, where the craft lives.
Stone Setting
We set all of our stones ourselves, in-house. This isn't just a quality control decision. It's a design decision. We pride ourselves on custom setting designs and innovative techniques that larger jewelers don't have the time or skill for. When you're setting your own stones, you can push the boundaries of what's possible.
For our Montana sapphire pieces, we source American-origin stones and set them in bezels or prongs that we fabricate to fit each individual gem. No two settings are identical.
What We Outsource (and Why)
We make everything we possibly can by hand. But some components, like chains and certain clasps, require specialized manufacturing equipment that doesn't make sense for a two-person studio. When we do outsource, we work exclusively with high-quality, USA-based small manufacturers who share our standards. We know where every component comes from.
Custom and Heirloom Work
Custom work is a significant part of what we do. We regularly take on commissions that involve transforming heirloom jewelry into new designs. This process happens 100% in our studio: we melt down the old material, refine it, and cast it into something new. It's deeply satisfying work, giving new life to pieces with personal history.
The Finished Piece
By the time a piece leaves our studio, it's been touched by our hands dozens of times. Filed, polished, inspected, packed with care. We know exactly what went into it because we did the work ourselves.
That's the difference between Gold Gold Gold and mass-produced jewelry. Not marketing. Not branding. Just craft, done right, by people who care.