The next jewelry designer is someone I know quite well: Carolina Graber of Blue Wild Indigo. Ever since I started sharing a studio with her and observing her operation (and not in a creepy way), it’s made me wish I had the manual dexterity to be a jewelry designer and it’s also made me slightly obsessed with jewelry design as a business. Here are my top five reasons why a jewelry design business is so awesome:
1. It’s relatively easy to make a variety of prototypes to test market and bring to shows.
2. You don’t need a big warehouse to store your inventory.
3. It doesn’t cost much to ship your orders to clients. The packages are so light and compact!
4. You can create a really nice profit margin with jewelry.
5. It’s a pretty reliable, steady market. I mean, who doesn’t love accessories, especially jewelry?
As you can see in the above image, Carolina’s craftsmanship, inventiveness, and attention to detail is apparent in every piece she creates. I’m also fascinated at how quickly she designs new and often intricate pieces. I’ll be gone for an afternoon and when I return she’s got ten new prototype designs with hand-sewn chain and all! Most of her new line may not be available on her website just yet, but you can send her an email if you’re interested! (FYI: The earrings are called “Erosion” and the necklace is called “Amulet” in the Kelp design.)
What’s on her desk: 1) Dapping block for metalworking, 2) Tray with jewelry in progress for orders, 3) Ruler for measuring chains, 4) Lined pad work surface, 5) Ceramic egg cup from Anthropologie (which holds her drill bits), 6) Hanging vessels from Ikea, 7) Towel bar where she keeps various gauges of silver wire and a jeweler’s saw, 8) Peacock ring holder where she keeps her engagement ring while working, and 9) Storage box for screws, charms, clasps, and incidentals.
About Blue Wild Indigo:
With a penchant for combining unexpected materials and pushing the envelope of traditional techniques, Carolina Graber’s jewelry puts reinvention at premium. Growing up in rural Kansas, Carolina was no stranger to challenging small town convention. She carries that sensibility in her jewelry design, challenging herself to create unique and novel pieces. Carolina began designing jewelry while studying costuming and fashion design at Columbia College in Chicago. Starting initially as hobby, her creative propulsion and independent streak transformed it into a full-blown business. In 2003, she named her business Blue Wild Indigo, a native Kansas flower, as way of honoring her roots.