A Golden Age
Starry Skies Rings by Gordon Lawrie
The Southwest may be known for its silver, but now local jewelry designers are finding ways to incorporate gold, and even more exotic metals, into their designs. Why not treat your valentine to one of these contemporary alternatives from some of our city’s most creative metalsmiths?
Gordon Lawrie, co-owner of Eidos Contemporary Jewelry in the Sanbusco center, doesn’t limit his metallic palette to one or two shades. His minimalist rings and pendants honor the 21st century with materials ranging from recycled gold and lightweight titanium to hammered niobium—a hypoallergenic element manufactured in its most stable form for use in nuclear reactors. For sheer sparkle, try the bands made from palladium (a sister metal to platinum) and inset with conflict-free diamonds from Canada or Australia. 500 Montezuma, 505-992-0020, eidosjewelry.com
Kristin Lora, an artist whose pieces regularly hybridize jewelry and sculpture, has been known to add such atypical materials as felt, glass tubes, and makeup brushes to her bold, witty baubles. For her popular Circle Cluster series, she reinterprets a simple shape and takes advantage
of gold’s bright color to set off gems like blue topaz and citrine. 1802 Second, Unit B, 505-471-5400, kristinlora.com
Lori Swartz of loriMetals began adding gold accents to her counter-cultural silver pieces just this past year, not long before she opened loriMetals Gallery in Madrid. The “Molten” series, for instance, relies on the contrast of gold against patina-darkened silver to highlight the organic shapes she pulls from nearly liquid metal. It may also represent the ever-changing nature of this artistic risk-taker’s life. Hwy 14, Madrid, 505-699-2654, lorimetals.com
