ADELAIDE NIKETAS DESIGNS Adelaide Niketas knows you can love your great-aunt without loving the bracelet she passed on. A stash of unworn vintage pieces from her antique-dealer grandparents inspired her to start reworking old gems into modern baubles. Armed with GIA degrees in graduate diamonds and jewelry design, the Birmingham-born San Diego transplant (she moved here with her husband, who is a Marine) cut her teeth working with fellow local entrepreneur Julez Bryant while growing her own business on the side. Whether it’s a reimagined heirloom or a brand new engagement ring, each of Niketas’ custom pieces comes with a hand- painted design, plus a thank you note— “because I’m Southern,” she adds.
MEGAN COCHRAN JEWELRY DESIGN “My [work] doesn’t take itself entirely too seriously,” says Megan Cochran, who took courses in digital design software as well as graduate jewelry at GIA. Her playful approach applies both to her own Oceanside- based brand and to the designs and renders she creates for small jewelry businesses nationwide. One thing Cochran is serious about? Inclusivity. She’s co-president of the San Diego chapter of the Women’s Jewelry Association and dedicated to building community with fellow women and LGBTQ designers. “A lot of people who don’t necessarily feel like they fit a certain model are going into business for themselves,” she reflects. “I want to lend my creativity to [them].”
ENJI STUDIO JEWELRY “It was love at first solder,” Niki Grandics says of discovering jewelry design at San Diego State. She went on to study graduate jewelry at GIA, then founded Enji Studio in 2014 with a focus on recycled and ethically mined materials. Certified by the Alliance for Responsible Mining, the metals Grandics uses to craft her artful, rough-hewn pieces come from sources committed to decreasing negative environmental impacts and bolstering the communities around the mines. Customers who purchase an Enji ring can trace exactly where their stone came from. “I’m investing in a better standard for the future,” Grandics emphasizes.
56 MAY 2023
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