Anyone who’s spent more than an hour with me over the past few years has heard me carry on about the “return” of yellow gold.  Personally, I never thought it left, but for years – even decades – people were shying away from yellow gold.  There’s something organic about yellow gold.  The warmth it lends to the skin against which it lies.  A romantic harkening back to another age; another time.

There are a few designers who are known for their work with gold.  Fewer still who are known as true goldsmiths.  Turkey’s Gurhan Orhan has spent the past couple of decades earning that distinction.  And anyone who’s ever handled or viewed his jewelry, up close, knows that this is a man who absolutely loves what he does, and the medium he’s chosen to express that love.

I’ve been familiar with GURHAN for more than a decade, first really getting it when I saw the jewelry used a number of times on that great millennial fashion barometer, Sex and the City.  Magazines, upscale retailers, film and television – on Angelina Jolie; if it was hammered yellow gold, it was likely GURHAN.

And not just gold, but 24 karat gold.  Nobody works with 24 karat gold: It’s too soft.  Or at least, so the conventional wisdom told us.  But that’s what Gurhan did – he created a process allowing him to craft jewelry out of pure 24 karat gold.  Neat trick!

There’s just something real about the jewelry; something authentic.  Likely, it’s the traditional techniques GURHAN employs.  Also, it’s at once luxurious and wearable.  And I’m a big fan of anything that can effortlessly fall into both categories.

My favorite pieces debuted by GURHAN, at this year’s COUTURE show, can be seen on the slideshow, above.  There are scarabs and cameos and Evil Eyes made from Murano glass.  There are pieces crafted from micro-mosaic (talk about detail…).  And rings!  Rings befitting a sultana!  Sliced diamonds make an appearance, and rutilated quartz comes out to play, as well.

And while GURHAN has introduced 14 karat gold and silver into his various collections (not to mention pure platinum), for me, it all comes back to that delicious, heavy, pure 24 karat yellow gold.

GURHAN
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Get into it!