They say some of the best gifts are made by hand — and at GURHAN, we couldn't agree more. The love and craft that goes into a handmade piece of jewelry can't be replicated, which is why so many of our pieces are one of a kind. To us, the process of designing, forging, and crafting a piece of jewelry is sacred. We believe that beyond our beautiful designs, the art and passion for our craft make our jewelry unique. So, let us show you what kind of craft and care goes into every piece.
Our Design and Inspiration for Unique Handmade Gifts
Our designs are rooted in ancient techniques, and our inspiration comes from our founders' lust for life — the places they've visited, the art they've admired, and the cultures they've embraced. This inspiration is poured into GURHAN jewelry, creating a shared experience and jewelry that goes beyond the ordinary. Just look to the Embrace collection inspired by Klimt, or the Boucle collection inspired by the signature fabric used by French fashion icon Coco Chanel.
Whatsmore, it's not uncommon for Gurhan to design an entire piece of jewelry around a treasure from his travels either, telling us, "Nothing gives me more pleasure than to capture a piece of history and imagine the past lives that were touched by it. To then give that object a new life as jewelry is my way of honoring the past."
The Importance of Unique Stone Selection in Jewelry Handmade Gifts
At Gurhan, we hand-select every stone that goes into our jewelry to create the very best handmade gifts. But what is different about our process is that we don't confine our choices to measures of quality, instead choosing stones based on their beautiful imperfections or unique personality. For us, loving the stone and its character is the most important thing. Seeing its future in a piece of his unique handmade gift jewelry, that is Gurhan's visionary talent.
"The unique quality of stones inspires my one of a kind creations," Gurhan admitted. "When I select a stone, I usually have a vision for how I will build a design around it — it's as if each stone has a destiny that I am bound to discover and create for it."
We also take pride in the fact that every diamond we have ever used is ethically sourced, which is incredibly important to our customers and us. To ensure this, we closely observe the Kimberly Process Certification, which regulates the mining and dealing of natural diamonds to ensure that conflict diamonds are not used. At Gurhan, we also tend to ignore traditional diamond grading systems, instead opting for unique stones and choosing cuts like rose, mine, riolettes, slices, and beads, which bring out the individual character of each diamond.
Ancient Hand Hammering Techniques
From the very start, Gurhan's vision was to reincarnate the craft of ancient goldsmiths by using the same pure, 24k gold and by staying true to their hand-hewn techniques. The special look of our handcrafted gold jewelry goes far beyond design — every square inch of our hammered gold holding the power of 1,000 hammer strikes and a millennia-old tradition.
The work done by our craftsmen in Istanbul may be painstaking, labor-intensive, and time-consuming, but their talent is evident in every piece. One of the most interesting techniques that Gurhan borrowed from the ancient goldsmiths — and then taught his — was the art of hollow-hammering, which uses organic fillers like grains and sand to give hollow forms strength. This kind of resilience is important for daily wear, ensuring your pure 24k gold will last a lifetime. The same care goes into other gold pieces, like handmade link chains, which are hammered, forged, and linked individually by our craftsmen.
Finally, while our techniques are rooted in tradition, we embrace modern sustainability practices and ethical sourcing. With deep care for our environment and the work conditions of laborers in the jewelry supply chain, we work with a refinery that is dedicated to using only recycled, ethically sourced gold.
Now that you know what we're made of, don't you want to see what unique handmade gifts we make? Browse our beautiful selection of jewelry for the upcoming holiday season — we guarantee you will find something just as special as the person you're shopping for.
Shop unique, handmade gifts: www.gurhan.com