Meet Nick Von K - the Rockstar Ringmaker
As a rebellious teen Nick Von K aspired to be a rockstar, but it took being gifted a cheap skull ring from a friend to fuel his passion for the world of jewellery instead. Founded in a battered shack in his backyard in 2009, the eccentric Nick Von K paved his own journey in jewellery craft and continues to explore a fusion of typically dissimilar worlds.
The first eight months of 2010 bore witness to Nick’s meticulous labour as he poured his soul into designing an exhaustive ninety pieces for his inaugural collection. Travelling between New Zealand and Bali, Nick spent time seeking out production partners that years later would evolve into lifelong friendships.
Image via @nickvon_k
Following the anticipated launch of his first sterling silver collection at New Zealand Fashion Week, Nick struck luck. Snatched up by Nicole Miller, a prominent international designer, Nick Von K was officially born, bound, and sealed for American boutiques. An extension of his true essence, Nick narrates his inaugural collection to be the pinnacle of everything he had acquired over the years. Described as a feeling of being ‘unleashed’, Nick poured every ounce of his creativity and emotion towards the worlds of art, music and fashion into this collection. His childhood exploration of New Zealand whilst sailing with his Dad, naturally influenced his creations, helping to devise his eccentric and ongoing ‘Pirate Collection’ as well as the many designs devoted to NZ fauna and flora. As Nick tells it, pirates are the original rebellious rock stars, and Nick’s collections ooze whimsical hints of life at sea. Throughout his journey, Nick’s passion has laid at the crossroads between the beautiful and the unexpected.
Image via @nickvon_k
Striving to surprise people, Nick endeavours to design jewellery in a unique way, seeking to capture a combination of aesthetics and story to strike the imagination. Today, Nick has moved significantly into gold, opening up a world of commission work and one-off pieces where design takes the forefront, and each piece can express a heartfelt personal narrative for his customers. Spending more time creating each unique piece, and using high-quality gemstones like Sapphires and Tourmalines, Nick feels he has arrived at a place his 6-year-old self dreamed about when he first wanted to become an artist. And yet his philosophy is that humans should never rest on their laurels, expressing that to remain fulfilled, one must always continue to seek new ground. Combined with the joy that his treasures spark in others, Nick maintains his life purpose is to craft the unimagined for those who seek the remarkable.
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