Process

One of the questions I get most often during Reconstruction consultations is: “Will my exact gold be melted down and turned directly into my new piece?” It’s a completely understandable question, especially because reconstruction work is so personal. People are often bringing in wedding rings, inherited [...]

When I say CMD jewelry is handmade, I mean that quite literally. Every piece passes through real hands using real tools, from cutting and soldering to filing, polishing, stone setting and all the tiny adjustments most people will never see. I’m taking you behind the scenes of our Upstate New York studio to show what handcrafted [...]

Before an old ring can become something entirely new, sometimes we have to take it completely apart. I’m sharing a look behind the scenes at the dismantling stage of Reconstruction, where diamonds are removed, metals are evaluated and jewelry that once felt past its prime starts revealing entirely [...]

Thinking about transforming inherited jewelry, old wedding rings or family diamonds into something you’ll actually wear? I’m walking you through a CMD Reconstruction project from our first conversation and careful deconstruction to recycling, design, production and the finished piece, so you know [...]

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. [...]

Ever wondered who’s behind the jewelry you wear every day? At CMD, we believe that how something is made is just as important as what is made — and our team of four women is the heartbeat of that process. We collaborate daily across three states to bring CMD jewelry to life. From design sketches to final [...]

At CMD, quality isn’t just about choosing better materials. It’s about skilled hands, thoughtful design, small-batch production and making jewelry with the expectation that you’ll actually wear it. I’m breaking down why handmade jewelry costs more, what you’re paying for when you choose CMD and how [...]

2023 became the year I started questioning an idea that had driven much of my career: that doing more was always the answer. We focused on smaller launches, gave product development more room to breathe, introduced designs like Spread the Love, Storybook, the 14k Rogue Ring, Infinity Necklace and Zodiac [...]

A finished piece of CMD jewelry rarely begins as anything more than an idea and a rough sketch. From there, we make it, wear it, adjust it and often make it all over again. Here's a look inside the collaborative process that turns one of my scribbled ideas into jewelry you can actually wear. There's something incredibly satisfying [...]

There’s something different about jewelry that has passed through a maker’s hands. At CMD, our pieces are cut, soldered, shaped, finished and inspected by real people who care deeply about what leaves the studio. It takes more time to make jewelry this way, but after more than two decades, I still believe [...]

I often get asked what my favorite part of being a jewelry designer is. For me, it's still the creative process, the part where I sit down, put pen to paper and sketch and sketch and sketch. Creativity doesn't always show up on command, but after all these years, I've learned a few things about giving the good ideas [...]