I love sharing my jewelry process with all of you. Designing is my passion, and from early concepts of a new collection to the final pieces coming off the production line, each CMD piece is a labor of love. For the recent collection, FORTH by CMD, I took a trip to New York and began sketching (and sketching…and sketching….). I was inspired by the city, by distinct angles, and I had a vision of squared bangles dancing in my head.
An interesting part of the design process is forcing myself to pivot direction when need be. Sometimes what I expect to be a winning sketch just doesn’t come to life the right way. The design process is truly a process, and it’s important to listen to the metals as I’m working with them. Dropping a sketch or a concept and adding it to my “maybe some other day” pile is all part of adding to our collection. It’s a true exemplification of “moving forth!”
As I frequently mention, I love our open-studio space at The Showroom in San Francisco because our clients can shop the collections while peering into our studio and watching our fabulous production artists at work. Plus, you’ll even catch a glimpse of sketches on the walls and samples on the bench.

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Lately, I’ve been reflecting on some of my favorite custom projects — the kind where memory, metal and meaning all collide. From heirloom diamonds and recycled gold to entirely bespoke wedding bands, these are the stories that remind me why I feel so called to this work... If you’ve been holding onto diamonds, want to recycle metal for [...]
When LP Giobbi asked me backstage at the Fox Theatre if I would design her and Chad’s wedding bands, I was absolutely floored. Floored in the “hold it together, Colleen” kind of way. Internally, I was doing cartwheels. If you’ve been here a while, you know that LP and I first connected through music and mutual admiration. What began as a soul-recognition [...]
Over the years, I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten requests to repurpose precious family diamonds or to redesign jewelry to have a CMD aesthetic. Clearly, there is a real interest in transforming heirloom pieces, resetting diamonds, or creating something entirely new from older jewelry you no longer wear. You asked and now, we deliver! [...]