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Every CMD piece starts with an idea and a sketch, usually at my worktable in Asbury Park, New Jersey. From there, the idea is refined through proportion, shape, materials and plenty of trial and error until it feels just right.
Once the design is ready, it makes its way to our production studio in Upstate New York, where our small team brings it to life by hand. From forming and soldering to stone setting, finishing and final inspection, there are real people behind every step and a lot of care in the details you may never see.
It’s a process that takes time, collaboration and more than a little problem-solving. We make jewelry this way because we want each piece to feel considered, beautifully made and ready to become part of your everyday for years to come.
01 / DESIGN
There’s no single place a new CMD design begins. Ideas find me while I’m traveling, walking, looking at architecture or noticing some tiny shape or detail I can’t stop thinking about. Eventually, they make their way into my sketchbook, where I start playing with proportion, geometry, negative space and how different elements might work together.
My background in industrial design still shapes the way I approach this part of the process. I sketch, refine, rethink and sometimes start over completely. I’m not only thinking about how something looks on paper, but how it will sit on the body, how it might move, what it could stack with and whether it feels interesting enough to keep coming back to.
Some ideas click quickly. Others hang around my worktable through round after round of sketches before I figure out what they’re supposed to become. Either way, the goal is never just to make something new. It’s to make something you’ll love, live in and eventually wonder how you ever got dressed without.
Go Inside My Design Process
02 / DEVELOPMENT
Once an idea feels strong enough on paper, it’s time to find out whether it actually works in metal. This is where the design starts becoming something real, and where proportions, construction and tiny details that seemed simple in a sketch suddenly need to be worked out in three dimensions.
The first version is rarely the final one. A design might go through several rounds of sampling as we adjust the scale, refine a curve, change the way two elements connect or rethink something that just doesn’t feel right once it’s on the body. Sometimes the metal itself changes the plan, and I’ve learned to listen when it does.
That back-and-forth between sketching, making and refining is one of my favorite parts of the process. We keep working until the piece feels balanced, comfortable and beautifully made, with every detail considered before it becomes an official part of the CMD collection.
See How An Idea Becomes A Design
03 / PRODUCTION
Once a design is finalized, it makes its way to our production studio in Trumansburg, New York, where Aryana and Sam bring it to life. Most CMD jewelry is made to order, so rather than a factory producing hundreds of identical pieces, there are real hands at the bench making your jewelry one piece at a time.
Depending on the design, that can mean forming, sawing, soldering, hammering, stone setting, polishing, oxidizing and finishing, often with several steps happening before a piece is complete. It’s skilled, hands-on work, and many of the tiny adjustments made along the way come from years of experience working with metal, understanding how it behaves and knowing when something feels just right.
That level of attention carries through every part of the process, from refining a curve or perfecting a solder seam to getting the finish and final polish exactly where we want them. There are countless small decisions behind a finished piece, and making them well takes skilled hands, patience and time. We could make things faster, but we’d rather make something you’ll reach for every day and still love wearing years from now.
What Handmade Really Means at CMD
04 / FINISHING
After construction is finished, there’s still a lot left to decide. Surface treatments and finishes can completely change the look and feel of a piece, so this stage is where we start refining all the details that give CMD jewelry its character.
Some pieces are polished until they’re bright and reflective, while others are softened to our signature matte finish or oxidized to create depth and contrast. Mixed metals, subtle texture, stone setting and tiny variations in surface all play a part in the aesthetic of the final piece as well as how it wears.
These choices may seem small, but they have a huge effect on the finished design. We keep adjusting until everything feels balanced, intentional and completely resolved, because sometimes it’s the details you barely notice at first that end up being the ones you love most.
Learn About CMD Finishes
05 / FROM OUR HANDS TO YOURS
Before a piece leaves the studio, it gets one final look to make sure the finish, fit and details are exactly where we want them. After that, our part of the process is finished, and yours begins.
CMD jewelry is meant to be worn often, mixed with pieces you already love and changed up as your style evolves. We want these pieces to become part of how you get dressed without having to think too hard about it, whether you wear the same stack every day or keep finding new ways to make it your own. The scratches, patina and little signs of wear that come with time are part of the story too, because jewelry becomes more personal the longer you live in it.
We may start with the sketch, the metal and the making, but you’re the one who gives the finished piece its life. Once it leaves our hands, it becomes part of your everyday look, marking milestones, memories and whatever comes next. Seeing my jewelry become part of someone’s personal story is still one of the very best parts of what I get to do.
