Satomi Kawakita is a New York-based jewelry designer and diamond setter. She was born and raised in Japan. Her mother, a dress-maker, influenced Satomi in the usefulness and beauty of the art of design, along with an awareness of the organic and natural charms of earthy materials.

She creates her (stackable) collections inside a small shared studio. Here, she crafts diverse pieces of jewelry in all shapes and sizes, natural textures, and from different kinds of metals and minerals – from yellow to white gold, color stones to diamonds.

Each unique creation takes on her warm manner and humble yet refined craftsmanship; Satomi creates lucent jewelry with unlimited beauty to be worn and adored.

You were born, raised and you studied in Japan before moving to New York. How does the combination of living in these two very different countries influence your work as a jewelry designer?

In Japan, the very important thing (when I grew up) was how much you could follow the instruction you were given. Teamwork is more important than solo play for the most of the time in school. But here in the US, originality is more important. You could be very different from a person next to you, and you should be different. Everyone has a different look, different ideas, and we are proud of it. There is no standard and you have to have your own sense of value. You can’t follow other people without thinking by yourself. I learned to be patient in Japan and care about people around you. And it helped me to be a craftsman, and working for a company with many other people. And I leaned how much the originality is important in the US, and it helps in being a designer. I don’t consider myself an artist. I’m a craftsman/designer. I always want to be the both at the same time. So these two different culture back grounds have been helping me with what I’m doing now.

Jewelry design is a delicate art. What influenced you into choosing this profession and when did your fascination for jewelry begin?

I used to be a glass blower when I lived in Japan. I love glass as material and the process of glass blowing, but I was not very good. Glass blowing is kind of a sport, and it was definitely not my thing. I didn’t have good sense. I like to sit and work by myself and stop and think. I really like to work on small details. When I started making glass beads jewelry in Japan after I stopped blowing glass, I couldn’t find a clasp that I liked. And I thought it would be fun if I could make one, then I decided to take a metal smith class.

Can you take us through your New York studio and describe what it’s like? How do you like to work?

It’s a small shared space. My friend jewelry designer who moved back to Japan recently let me take over the space. I was working for a company as a diamond setter for last seven years, and making my jewelry from my bedroom at nights and weekends, and this is my very first studio space only for work.

I use one side of the walls and have a small work bench, polishing machine, and we share a soldering station. My studio mate Tina makes jewelry with enamel. Our style is different and we are not competitive, and she makes me relax! It’s a nice small space in front of The Union Square where there you can find green markets four days a week!

You handle each piece of jewelry as if you were the one to wear it. What gives these rings, bracelets, necklaces that “Satomi Kawakita” aesthetic? How would you describe your look and style?

My style is very simple. I almost only wear black and white. But more black than white. I don’t wear colors or print or collar. I almost only wear one style of tops. I have about fifteen tops in the same shape with different materials of black fabric (nothing shiny). I go to buy fabric, I even weave by myself and my friend sews for me. A lot of my clothes were made for me just because I can’t find anything I like. And I really like to wear black clothes and gold jewelry. It makes me feel like I’m being myself and relax and also professional.

Your designs seem to have a very organic, natural and modest quality to them while maintaining a refined look and feel. What are some of the inspirations behind your designs?

I get inspired by many things. I really like the touch of ancient Greek jewelry such as one you can find at Met for its imperfection. I get inspired by plants, architecture, geometric shapes, graphic designs and also textures of fabric, paper and many things.

I really like something imperfect and something you can feel the “human-touch”, something that makes me nostalgic and relax.

How would you describe the ideal person who wears your jewelry?

Someone independent. Someone who knows what makes them happy. My jewelry doesn’t speak too much, so the person who doesn’t need the jewelry to speak for them. I want people to wear it to make them happy, not to show off to other people.

How does working with one metal like gold differ from working with other metals? Are some harder to work with than others?

Yellow gold is easier to set stones more than white and pink gold. Pink is the worst to set stones. I like to set stones in platinum, but don’t like to polish platinum. Platinum is very hard and also sticky at the same time. So the sticky side helps diamond setting, but hard to polish it because it’s so hard.

How would you describe the color stones collection? What do these chosen colours represent to you?

I don’t use many color stones for my collection. I’m very mono-tone person. But when I saw these tourmalines, I fell in love with them in a second for the combination of the color and the shape. Irregular rose cut is one of my favorite shapes. And the colors of tourmalines were just so beautiful. They spoke to me and asked me to give them new lives. The stones are polished nicely, and I set them in hammered texture yellow gold rings to make the stones stand out more. They look like they were found on the ground. Imagine if someone was digging in the ground, and found these rings like treasure hunting. That’s my imaginary story for these rings.

What about the stackable rings? How did you come upon this idea?

It’s a simple reason. When I started making jewelry I didn’t have much budget, but I really wanted to make a gold ring. And I just tried to make something very light. So my first ring was very thin and skinny and light because of my tight budget. And I kept making more thin delicate rings, and I found they could be worn together and complement each other. I do weaving as a hobby, and the glass beads jewelry I was making were also “beads weaving”, I think.

The idea for my stackable rings is very similar to the process of weaving. A lot of my clients are repeaters and they are creating their own stack with their precious memories. And it’s so great to see them come back with news, such as they gave birth and want a ring with the birth stones, one year, two year wedding anniversary. Most people have reasons when they buy rings, and the reasons are very nice and happy most of the time. It’s been grateful being a jeweler maker, and I feel like my customers and I are growing together.

- Satomi Kawakita, jewelry designer