Hand Forged Originals

A legacy established in 1964 in Big Sur, hand-fabricated today by Carrie Armstrong & Ali A Lee.

We specialize in custom fine jewelry made using 22k gold, platinum, Unusual & rare gemstones.

Explore The Work

Person's hands holding a collection of gold rings with various gemstones and designs, resting on brown fabric.

Handmade

by

Carrie Armstrong

&

Ali A Lee

Our Story

The Gallery

Blue Chalcedony Amulet

$2,800.00

A 30 carat chalcedony cabochon, cut long and high so light enters the stone rather than skating across it. The blue reads as lit from within.

Set in 22 karat gold, flanked by a faceted sapphire and an old mine cut diamond. Two points of sharp light bracket the cabochon’s slow glow. The satin silver body keeps the stones the brightest things in the piece. Nothing here is ornament.

An amulet, a form I’ve made variations of for as long as I’ve been able to make. Never the same, always similar.

Bail is 18 karat gold.

Materials Satin silver · 22k gold · 18k gold · 30ct chalcedony cabochon · Sapphire · Old mine cut diamond

Every piece has a story. To hear more or see it on a video call: studio@bigsurgoldsmiths.com · 541.301.6923

Made by our hands in our mountain studio in the USA. One of one: once it sells, it will not be made again. Returns accepted within 15 days of delivery if the piece hasn't been damaged.

22k Gold Sculpted Drop Earrings

$3,400.00

Pure 22 karat gold, nothing else. Hand tooled and satin brush finished — the surface carries the mark of the tool directly, which is what separates this from anything cast or fabricated by machine. Forged by Carrie, the form is the work.

At 1.6 inches drop and nearly an inch wide, these read as sculpture on the ear. The ear wire is 22 karat gold throughout.

One of a kind.

Materials 22k gold · Hand tooled satin brush finish

Dimensions Drop: 1.6in (40.8mm) · Width: 0.89in (22.5mm)

Made by our hands in our mountain studio in the USA. One of one: once it sells, it will not be made again. Returns accepted within 15 days of delivery if the piece hasn't been damaged.

Fossilized Coral Big Sur Classic Ring

$1,400.00

22k studio milled gold setting, sterling silver base and band, fossilized coral oval cabochon 18 carat weight

Ring size 8.5
1.10 “ ( 28.7mm ) vertical
0.75 “ ( 19.2mm ) horizontal
0.28 ” ( 7.1mm ) gem height
0.47 “ ( 12mm ) band width
Form fitted band shape
Hand fabricated by Ali
Individually crafted studio piece

Made by our hands in our mountain studio in the USA. One of one: once it sells, it will not be made again. Returns accepted within 15 days of delivery if the piece hasn't been damaged. Rings can often be sized up and only very rarely down. If you need a different size, we'd be glad to make you a similar piece in your size.

gallery

Carrie Armstrong gold ring with diamonds

Close-up of a person's hand wearing a ring with a large, transparent, rounded gemstone or glass piece.

Close-up of a person's hand wearing a silver ring with a large green gemstone, along with other rings with red and green gemstones.

Close-up of a woman's face, showing her left eye, nose, and lips, with short dark hair and a dark blue blazer, wearing a long, dangling earring with multiple colorful beads and a large green gemstone at the end.

Close-up of a person's hand wearing a silver ring decorated with multicolored gemstones in various sizes and shapes.

We Share regular studio updates on instagram

Hi, this is Ali. I should start with that, because people are never sure if it is Carrie or me posting. She usually posts on her own page, @carriearmstrongdesign A few months ago I was sitting at the Nepenthe bar and Sander told me his wedding ring had broken. No, I did not make the original. If I had, it never would have broken. Just sayin. I met Sander 25 years ago when we worked together at Ventana, and of course I offered to fix it. It turned out both his wedding ring and his family signet ring had cracked. That is pretty common with 14K gold. It gets brittle with wear, and it is a big reason we do not use it. Fast forward. I tried to repair the wedding ring and it broke in another spot as soon as I did. So I told Sander there was enough gold to start over. A new wedding ring in 22K and 18K gold, set with the old Big Sur Jade cabochon from the original. And I could set the signet in a mixed metal pendant, 22K gold and silver. Some of my favorite work is exactly this. Remaking a client’s old gold and gems into new pieces, as long as they are ok with my style….no prongs please. I think they came out well. It was a tremendous honor to make this ring, and to know it will touch so many as he works behind the iconic bar @nepenthe.bigsur. Please do enjoy a meal upstairs at Nepenthe, and then travel down to see our work at the Phoenix Shop. My mom used to keep me in a basket behind the register there when I was a baby. It has been such a part of our lives. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #highkaratgold #oneofakindjewelry #jade #handforged

The Phoenix Shop at Nepenthe has carried our work since the 1970s. If you are in Big Sur, that is where to see it in person. @thephoenix.shop @nepenthe.bigsur

Garnet, Diamonds, & Sapphires Forged Cigar Band. 22k gold. One of a kind. #bigsurgoldsmiths #highkaratgold #oneofakindjewelry #garnet #handforged

Bi-Color Tourmaline Big Sur Classic Ring. 22k gold. One of a kind. #bigsurgoldsmiths #highkaratgold #oneofakindjewelry #tourmaline #handforged

Northern Sky Blue Sapphire. 22k gold and platinum. One of a kind. #bigsurgoldsmiths #highkaratgold #oneofakindjewelry #sapphire #handforged

The sound of filing and morning light on the bench. Platinum on silver, set down one form at a time. Sapphires and diamonds. No sketch underneath. Improvisation. One of a kind in the truest sense. Made to be worn. Inquire via link in bio or DM. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #platinumjewelry #artjewelry #oneofakind #finejewelry

Work in progress. Forms in pure platinum upon silver. Two metals, one surface. Silver reacts to the air and takes on patina. Platinum does not. Forging into a heavy band, then setting gemstones. Handmade original. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #platinum #handforged #wearableart #oneofakind

Emerald in high karat gold. Every time I set a cabochon like this, I think I should hoard it. Hide it away. Keep it for myself. But a stone like this wants to be worn, not locked in a box. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Would you wear it every day, or save it for the nights that matter? DM to collect. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #handmadejewelry #studiojewelry #finejewelry #oneofakindemerald

Meticulous hand-forged high karat gold chains. Hammer marks to prove it. Not trying to copy a machine. Making chains that will last for hundreds of years. Alloyed, milled, fused, and forged in the studio by hand, using the same tools my father used to make similar chains well before I was born. My father's grandmother used to tell of our relatives fleeing the Bolshevik revolution. The only wealth they could carry was what they wore. Gold chains like these, spent link by link as currency. Gemstones sewn into the linings of their coats. A chain is never just a chain. It is savings you can wear. Wealth that crosses borders. Making. By. Hand. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Three new chains, fresh from the bench. Which one would you wear every day? DM to collect. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #handmadejewelry #studiojewelry #finejewelry #oneofakind

Simple circles of gold. Each link forged by hand on a steel block, set on an ebony block worn smooth in our studio since the 1960s. Not machine made. Not made with bought parts. Not cast. Casting is quick. Quick was never the point. The simple thing is the harder thing. The Egyptians made chains some six thousand years ago. I’m only the latest fool to take up the oldest work. 22K and 18K gold. It may be worn, inherited, lost at sea, or melted down in a hard winter. Wherever it goes, it will see the world in ways we can’t imagine. Alloyed, milled, forged by hand in studio. Same methods since 1964. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Inquire via link in bio or DM. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #handmadejewelry #studiojewelry #finejewelry #oneofakind

Hand forged high karat gold chains.

Walking to the studio this morning Gemstones this multidimensional don’t need an elaborate setting. Simple forms, exceptionally crafted, honor what nature already did. Walking down the garden steps to the studio with this golden beryl, I kept catching it in different light, different angles, watching it change. I’d been saving this one. Hoarding it, really. Golden beryl, heliodor, was a favorite of mine when I was young, and my father cut substantial cabochons just like this one, set in 22k and silver. High quality gems like this are getting harder to find and more costly, so I try to save the best for solid gold. But some, like this one, we set as retro pieces instead. They’re made to be worn and enjoyed, not hidden away. Alloyed, milled, forged by hand in studio. Same methods since 1964. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Inquire via link in bio or DM.

Sped to 100x and it still looks slow. That’s the process. Soldering links of 18k chain one at a time, flame to join, link closes, move to the next. Ancient, methodical work with no shortcut through it. This is the bench for the next few days. Alloyed, milled, forged by hand in studio. Same methods since 1964. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Inquire via link in bio or DM. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #handmadejewelry #studiojewelry #finejewelry #oneofakind

Handmade. From molten gold to timeless forms, made to be worn and passed down. Hundreds of hand-forged links, each one opened, closed, and soldered by hand. Soon fused into adornment. An heirloom. A testament to old world craftsmanship. Alloyed, milled, forged by hand in studio. One of a kind. Built to outlast. Inquire via link in bio or DM. . . . #bigsurgoldsmiths #handmadejewelry #studiojewelry #finejewelry #oneofakind

There is no fast way. Time and patience to make that which last.

LEGACY CRAFT

Our story began in 1964 at the Esalen Institute Art Barn, where Ali's father, Karl Lee, began the studio and first shaped our family's goldsmithing tradition. He later moved to Partington Ridge, to a space previously occupied by the writer Henry Miller, and made it his home and studio. Ali was raised in that studio among raw metals and lapidary tools. Today we continue Karl's original handmade tradition at the bench in Ashland, Oregon. As a dedicated two-person studio, every piece is hand fabricated in our studio, never outsourced, never mass-cast or made on an assembly line. We forge the gold, cut the gems (when we can), and set every stone by hand, honoring a lifelong commitment to unrepeatable studio craft.

Black and white vintage photograph of Big Sur Goldsmiths founder Karl Lee at the Esalen Institute Art Barn in the 1960s, where the family's goldsmithing legacy began.

KARL LEE 1960’s STUDIO -ESALEN ART BARN

Studio Notes

We don't email often. Sign up if you'd like an occasional note from the studio to let our collectors know when fresh cabochons are cut or new pieces are ready.

Mixed metal classics by Carrie Armstrong: moonstone, citrine, bloodstone, ruby in 22K gold and silver

Carrie Armstrong Cuff with green tourmaline, 22K gold and silver with patina

Carrie Armstrong golden beryl sugarloafs and custom in 22K Gold

The Phoenix Shop at Nepenthe in Big Sur carrying hand-forged Big Sur Goldsmiths jewelry

WHERE TO SEE OUR WORK IN BIG SUR

THE PHOENIX SHOP AT NEPENTHE

The Phoenix Shop at Nepenthe has carried our handcrafted 22k gold and gemstone jewelry since the 1970s. If you are visiting Big Sur, California, stop by this iconic Highway 1 landmark to experience our one-of-a-kind work in person.

Representation