FavAUrite Goldsmithing
The locket, 'Irish Princess' charm, tiny heart signet and birthstone ring my mom & dad gave me for birthdays and other special occasions are some of my most prized possessions. They were all worn every day and taking them off was not an option… until I was about 14. If, like me, you were a teenager or twenty-something in the 90’s yellow metal was OUT and sterling silver was IN. PERIOD. It was all about tacked jeans, Doc Martens, velvet chokers and silver jewelry. In mall kiosks and at beach town markets you would find layers of box chains adorned with crystals, amulets of suns and moons, stacking bands for every finger with black onyx, moonstone, amethyst and turquoise and bangles up to your elbows. About a decade later I would return to gold. Despite the staggering price that gold has reached in 2026 I have no plans to look back and remain painfully loyal.
Suffice it to say jewelry is my favAUrite. It’s often how I remember people – by their rings. Jewelry can be the first thing I notice before hair, eyes, clothes or voice. Studying my mom’s hands with her wedding rings and bracelets and playing in her jewelry box with all her 60’s and 70’s costume jewelry was a favAUrite pastime. She loved picking out jewelry while travelling and the memory this would provide.
Fast forward to how my career started in non-profit and then pivoted to retail & jewelry. My awareness of makers expanded while working in the jewelry space. I was fortunate enough to be travelling different corners of the world with my endlessly talented and beloved boss turned friend who had more style in her gold adorned pinky than most will have in their whole lifetime. On our first encounter she took me into Pomellato in NYC for inspiration. In the years that followed, on every visit to her home in CA, I’d pray to find the time to visit L Frank on Abbott Kinney, Fred Segal downtown, Broken English in Brentwood and then in Paris to visit White Bird and Merci. In all cases I was gaining an education and experiencing makers emerging off the beaten path. Sometimes slowly & quietly, sometimes unexpectedly rapidly and it felt deeply meaningful to me.
Why hadn’t it occurred to me in college to take the metals classes that were offered within my fine arts major? Oddly, these were the only electives I chose not to take. This is one of only a few regrets which surfaced in my 40’s while working part time at a goldsmith studio near my home. Here, I was immersed in the process from a perspective I hadn’t experienced while working in commercial environments. For the first time I was in proximity to actual goldsmiths forging and fabricating their work. Each piece, a tiny sculpture; slowly, lovingly and carefully assembled. It was during this serendipitous time when I met my dear favAUrite co-founders and we discovered our shared passion. We bonded over the new goldsmiths and antique jewelry we’d find while fully supporting one another in our ‘collecting’. Now I had two new best friends with whom I would share friendship bracelets, rings and charms with, and as I like to joke ‘my own personal goldsmith’. Winning!
The three of us have been compiling lists of our favAUrite goldsmiths for several years in the hope that we could bring them to you at FavAUrite. On various buying trips to NYC and Tucson we would have the pleasure of running into some of these OG favs. To me it was like meeting a celebrity and, embarrassingly, I would act accordingly. Since opening in October, we have enjoyed sharing the fine jewelry work of Hannah Blount, Tura Sugden, Natalie Quarino (our most favAUrite *wink*), and more recently, fine jeweler, Maura Green. Maura became a surprise addition after she walked through our doors in November to introduce herself, not knowing we were already fans of her distinct hand-carved symbols, creatures and tarot card charms. The positive reaction from our community has exceeded our expectations. In February we will welcome another favAUrite artist: Sia Taylor. The glow and movement of Sia’s delicate and simple designs are like magic, and we can’t wait to celebrate this new arrival with you.
Hannah Blount Jewelry
Tura Sugden
Natalie Quarino: FavAUrite
This might be my favAUrite part about jewelry: how personal it is to those who covet it and the stories they share behind each piece. It is a time honored, symbolic gift & a lasting souvenir from a specific time or place. In retrospect, my love of jewelry is yet another thing I am grateful to my parents for. It’s all come full circle as now my father’s signet ring sits proudly on my hand next to all my other favAUrites.
