About

sam hopkins jewelry began in a high school sculpture class. at the beginning of the school year, my teacher was going through the projects we were to complete, and told us that if we finish all our projects we can do some jewelry making at the end of the year. i had never given jewelry making much thought but this sparked something for me. i went home, grabbed a pipe, a blowtorch, some pliers, and a hammer and took to a spare nail in our garage, forcing the cheap, utilitarian object into a crude pinky ring. it wasn’t much but i was proud of it. throughout the year, i did some research on jewelry making and when the time came i was pretty decent, i didn’t have much in the skills department but i was dedicated. throughout high school i kept taking that sculpture class and learned some basic techniques and skills. i had decided i wanted to keep going in this direction, and enrolled in the asu sculpture department. My skillset greatly expanded during my time in college, i learned wax carving, chain making, stone setting techniques, how to properly finish a piece, and more. i invested in an at home studio to work on custom orders, and give myself more time doing what i love. since graduating i have continued honing my craft, creating a large variety of custom pieces, and now a line of signature products starting with the bone collection.

bone collection

in late 2024 i was working at a bronze foundry when my boss dropped a forklift on me, breaking my leg. during this time i had a client commission a link bracelet, as i was carving the initial link for the bracelet, my brain was telling me to make it into bones. i got permission from the customer to turn his bracelet into what would become the first bone bracelet, quite different from the more geometric ideas he sent me, but he trusted me and loved the idea. i was thrilled with the end result, and the design was quite popular and in turn sold well. the bones had stuck with me, i always envisioned my first line on this website to be based on nails, an earlier motif that had stuck with me. the bones were new, similar to the nails, they can be interpreted in a multitude of ways but they showcase a different side of sam hopkins jewelry, sculpture. each bone product is carved by hand in wax before being cast in metal, they are not exactly based off any human or animal bone, just what i envision a bone could look like in an alien sort of way. i don’t want to make hyper realistic bone jewelry, i find there is a beauty and newfound point of view in making something you have absolutely no knowledge in, if i studied bones the pieces would lack character and uniqueness. i am continuing to have fun and experiment with different directions i can take these pieces, new products will be added as they are developed.

every piece

from the bone collection is designed and hand carved from wax the traditional way. after the first piece is cast in metal, it is thoroughly inspected and finished before being taken to be molded. we use very small scale production methods to replicate the designs, eliminating the need for fully carving each piece from scratch. this allows us to offer the jewelry at a much more affordable rate while retaining quality standards. every piece gets some additional texture, and is finished by hand, ensuring your jewelry is just for you and retaining our exceptional handmade quality.