INNOVATIVE SpectraGold™
MOON GLOW CUFF
MJSA Visions Awards 2020
A vision of painting in precious metals inspired Adam to create an innovative new alloy, SpectraGold™. This delicately hand-forged, gradient alloy flows from rich yellow gold into pure white gold. Through years of research, Adam has mastered a proprietary technique, which yields a smooth, sturdy, and seamless gold. Read on to learn more about this special alloy, available exclusively from Adam Neeley.
INNOVATIVE SpectraGold™
MOON GLOW CUFF
MJSA Visions Awards 2020
A vision of painting in precious metals inspired Adam to create an innovative new alloy, SpectraGold™. This delicately hand-forged, gradient alloy flows from rich yellow gold into pure white gold. Through years of research, Adam has mastered a proprietary technique, which yields a smooth, sturdy, and seamless gold. Read on to learn more about this special alloy, available exclusively from Adam Neeley.
“A single piece of SpectraGold™ may take 60-80+ hours to produce,” Neeley explains, “It is a very labor intensive and precise process, which yields a very special gold effect” -Adam Neeley
“A single piece of SpectraGold™ may take 60-80+ hours to produce,” Neeley explains, “It is a very labor intensive and precise process, which yields a very special gold effect” -Adam Neeley
SOUTH SEA GLOW PENDANT
Smithsonian Museum Collection
Ombré Dreams
Where dreams intercede, Neeley glimpses the purest manifestations of his aesthetic. While living in Florence, Italy, Adam woke from a vivid dream to take down a captivating design. Adam didn’t limit his creativity by what he knew to be possible, he simply translated the vision onto paper. Here’s what he imagined: A lustrous suite of pearls fading from a rich golden hue into purest white, dancing along a hand-hewn form of matching gradient gold. This fantasy would become the pendant design South Sea Glow, an international award-winner that was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution in 2013. However, before this ambitious project was possible, metal-smithing innovation was needed to create what he’d envisaged.
SOUTH SEA GLOW PENDANT
Smithsonian Museum Collection
Ombré Dreams
Where dreams intercede, Neeley glimpses the purest manifestations of his aesthetic. While living in Florence, Italy, Adam woke from a vivid dream to take down a captivating design. Adam didn’t limit his creativity by what he knew to be possible, he simply translated the vision onto paper. Here’s what he imagined: A lustrous suite of pearls fading from a rich golden hue into purest white, dancing along a hand-hewn form of matching gradient gold. This fantasy would become the pendant design South Sea Glow, an international award-winner that was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution in 2013. However, before this ambitious project was possible, metal-smithing innovation was needed to create what he’d envisaged.
From Alloying to Alchemy
Adam drew on alloying and metal-smithing expertise gained over more than a decade to bring his vision to life. Early in his career, Adam trained in Italy to learn old-world European alloying traditions and further advanced his metal smithing skills working for Cartier in New York. Unlike many American jewelers, Adam has always preferred to alloy in his own studio instead of purchasing pre-mixed alloys for his jewelry. In this way, he is highly experienced in hand alloying and was he therefore well-primed to forge ahead into a new frontier of precious metallurgy when inspiration sparked.
Adam knew the material would need to be more than just beautiful to behold. He needed a way to incorporate the elegance of seamlessly graduating color in a form that was sturdy and reliable enough for the curvaceous and gemstone-forward designs he envisioned.
PAPILIO BROOCH
PAPILIO BROOCH
From Alloying to Alchemy
Adam drew on alloying and metal-smithing expertise gained over more than a decade to bring his vision to life. Early in his career, Adam trained in Italy to learn old-world European alloying traditions and further advanced his metal smithing skills working for Cartier in New York. Unlike many American jewelers, Adam has always preferred to alloy in his own studio instead of purchasing pre-mixed alloys for his jewelry. In this way, he is highly experienced in hand alloying and was he therefore well-primed to forge ahead into a new frontier of precious metallurgy when inspiration sparked.
Adam knew the material would need to be more than just beautiful to behold. He needed a way to incorporate the elegance of seamlessly graduating color in a form that was sturdy and reliable enough for the curvaceous and gemstone-forward designs he envisioned.
He took to the bench in an effort to create a process to harden a color gradient gold. After tireless experimentation, Adam succeeded in creating a smooth color gradient gold to match the ombré of his imagination. This unique and time intensive alloy, which Adam named SpectraGold™, consists of 7 different karatages of gold, from rich 23 karat yellow gold, to cool 9 karat white gold. SpectraGold has a hardness similar to 18 karat gold, making it suitable for a wide variety of jewelry applications.
He took to the bench in an effort to create a process to harden a color gradient gold. After tireless experimentation, Adam succeeded in creating a smooth color gradient gold to match the ombré of his imagination. This unique and time intensive alloy, which Adam named SpectraGold™, consists of 7 different karatages of gold, from rich 23 karat yellow gold, to cool 9 karat white gold. SpectraGold has a hardness similar to 18 karat gold, making it suitable for a wide variety of jewelry applications.
SPECTRA EARRINGS
MJSA Vision Awards 2013
Designing for SpectraGold™
Spectra gold is suitable for fashioning the delicate and fluid lines characteristic of Adam’s body of work. Creations showcasing SpectraGold have garnered multiple industry awards over the years and the ombré look has become a signature of the collection.
SpectraGold suits a broad variety of gems, from to colorless diamonds to vibrantly colorful gems. Its golden gradient also harmonizes strikingly with suites of color-gradient gemstones, as seen in the design South Sea Glow, which originally inspired his quest to create an ombré alloying technique. Since high polish finishing creates a mirror-like shine, Adam usually prefers to give SpectraGold jewelry a satin finish to highlight its ombré effect.
Spectra Earrings
MJSA Vision Awards 2013
Designing for SpectraGold™
Spectra gold is suitable for fashioning the delicate and fluid lines characteristic of Adam’s body of work. Creations showcasing SpectraGold have garnered multiple industry awards over the years and the ombré look has become a signature of the collection.
SpectraGold suits a broad variety of gems, from to colorless diamonds to vibrantly colorful gems. Its golden gradient also harmonizes strikingly with suites of color-gradient gemstones, as seen in the design South Sea Glow, which originally inspired his quest to create an ombré alloying technique. Since high polish finishing creates a mirror-like shine, Adam usually prefers to give SpectraGold jewelry a satin finish to highlight its ombré effect.
Like two-tone jewelry, SpectraGold designs are versatile for their variety of gold tones but instead of stark contrast, its subtle color shift leads the eye to follow the design lines of the piece. This is a powerful tool to help the jewelry artist engage with the viewer.
For it to retain its gradient properties, Spectra gold cannot be cast in a mold; it must be created by hand. For this reason, every piece incorporating SpectraGold is truly unique and the result of both ancient and cutting edge gold-working techniques.
Though time-intensive to create, Adam loves to use SpectraGold™ in his designs to create subtle color-gradients. “Allowing dreams to inform my artistic life keeps me passionate and challenged,” Adam asserts, “I’ll always stay true to that.”
OMBRÉ PENDANT
MJSA Vision Awards 2018
OMBRÉ PENDANT
MJSA Vision Awards 2018
