Misha Hoop Large |14K Gold Fill
Designer: Carolyn Keys
Material: 14K gold fill
Dimensions: .2" W x 1.25" Ø
The Misha Hoops are a mid-sized ribbon hoop finished with a signature hammered finish. These classic hoops are made with a hand forged sheet and are lightweight and easy to wear. Includes gold-fill posts and backs.
Carolyn has been designing and making for as long as she can remember. From a young age her father engaged her in wood shop projects that sparked her curiosity for materials, processes and design. In 2015, after spending ten years as an architectural designer, she decided leave her desk job and return to her roots in the workshop. She wasn’t sure at the time what she would end up doing, she just knew it had to be hands-on and design driven. Over the course of a year of exploration, she developed a fascination with metalsmithing and jewelry design. For Carolyn, jewelry is an endlessly intriguing medium - it is wearable art rooted in centuries old traditions of craft, mythology and adornment.
Growing up surrounded by the verdant woodlands of eastern Pennsylvania, Carolyn developed a lifelong love of the natural world, which comes through strongly in her work. This, paired with an urban edginess she gained though extensive travels abroad and 10 years of city living, is what defines the Carolyn Keys aesthetic.
Carolyn has a strict no-computer ethos when it comes to the design and making of her work. She wants the human hand to be present from start to finish, so this means each piece has a life and spirit of its own. Every collection starts with the seed of an idea, then through a process of hand sketching, material manipulation, and many iterations of design, the pieces slowly come together to form the collection. Each design is tried and tested to ensure its wearability and comfort. She believes that even big bold pieces should be easy to wear.
All jewelry is designed and made by Carolyn in her studio in eastern Pennsylvania. Materials include 14K gold fill, sterling silver, brass, wood and ceramic. Recycled and repurposed materials are used whenever possible. Carolyn’s processes involve hand cutting and hammering metal sheet, forging metal wire, cutting and shaping wood, carving ceramic elements and casting of original designs.