We love seeing the craft and creativity produced from the tools we sell and decided to begin a Jeweler Spotlight series. In this new quarterly series we will be featuring different jewelers making cool things and exploring what inspires their creativity. We’ll also be asking what some of their go-to tools are and any tips or tricks they’ve learned over the years.

For our very first Jeweler Spotlight installment we are thrilled to be highlighting Brooklyn-based jeweler Ope Omojola, founder of the handmade jewelry collection Octave Jewelry. Ope’s work features beautiful, hand-cut raw stones, paired with gold and silver that both have a sense of playfulness and sophisticated elegance.

Where are you from and how long have you been making jewelry?

I was born in Nigeria, grew up in the midwest, and have called New York home for about 12 years. Jewelry has been a lifelong love of mine! When I was 12 or 13, I made beaded necklaces and bracelets using buttons, beads handmade from paper and mod podge, that sort of thing. I took my first silversmithing class in 2014, and that was the beginning of the work I make now.

What drew you to begin making jewelry?

My first experiments were all about finding and defining my personal style. I made things because I couldn’t see (or couldn’t afford) what I wanted to wear, and making it myself gave me freedom.

What are some of the first pieces you started making and how have you honed in your creative practice?

When I was a teenager I worked in a bead supply store, so I would get these amazing discounts on strands. I made myself a lot of “cluster” earrings, just assemblages of tons of colors and textures that I liked. I loved the sense of movement and the subtle sounds they’d make.

When I started working in silver, I wanted to bring a similar sense of movement and play to what I made, and that still guides my design process. I think the first pair of earrings I made in silver that really felt like “me” were the Washer Hoop – they were an experiment born of pieces from the scrap bin, and I was also trying to give myself a soldering challenge and refine that technique.