Class In Session

The jeweler allows me to wear the sapphire blue lake on my finger, the emerald green leaves around my neck, and take the citrine sunset with me wherever I go. Jewelry has become my daytime link to nature in an office with no windows.

-Astrid Alauda,
Office with No Windows

Anyone who’s ever ventured into the shallow fringes of a lake and felt the smooth perfection of a rounded stone between the toes knows the penchant of nature for surprising us: gold sifted from sand, diamonds peeled from cave walls, a pearl growing in the hardened bowels of some salty clam half-buried on the ocean floor. The trick, however, is not in birthing precious or semi-precious stones from nature’s womb, but persuading the rest of the world to adopt them and acknowledge that they have worth far beyond that which can be measured in dollar signs. Kenton Beadworks, maker of handcrafted jewelry that features flawless stonework such as the Acacia Necklace, is one artisan that seems to understand. By eschewing stereotypical high-end cookie cutter accessory forms in favor of an organic, natural form, these pieces show off the stone itself rather than the setting—and in the process, exude absolute class. Bleeding-heart romantics might reach for the deep turquoise potency of the Willamette; a more poised lady might slip on the elegant Elle for a night out on the town. Whatever your preference, however, the goal of Kenton Beadwork's one-woman operation is to outfit you with classic jewelry that says graceful, not gaudy. Showing restraint, after all, has always been more ladylike than showing off.