Jonathan McKinney

MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE:
I create jewelry in Argentium silver, 18K and 14K gold, semi-precious and precious stones. Since I primarily use Argentium, I prefer to fuse, rather than solder my pieces together, which gives sharper, cleaner results without solder joints. I love using a mix of color with natural stones and shells such as sugilite, lapis, mother-of-pearl, coral, and turquoise. It’s important to me to use the highest quality materials available, especially in turquoise, which is a personal passion of mine. Precious stones I use include diamond, sapphire of all colors, tourmaline, aquamarine, and garnet. I love to fabricate/form metal from ingots, especially in gold. I use traditional stamping and overlay techniques, and especially like to use stamps I create myself. I also am able to create Mokume Gane, carve wax, and cast jewelry. I use a variety of stone-setting methods from basic bezel to channel setting. I employ different techniques depending on the project and final design objective.