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Michael Jiang Biography
Michael Jiang is a highly successful jewelry designer based in California. Soft spoken and modest about his accomplishments,
his jewelry creations offer another side of his personality: opulent, colorful, and intriguing.
As a child, growing up in Taiwan, Michael demonstrated a natural, artistic gift.
He has fond memories of trekking to the zoo and various temples with his sketching pad and pencils.
His favorite subjects were animals and intriguing architectural details of temples built centuries ago.
His unique painting earned him many awards. Upon arriving in the United States with his family,
Michael studied at a business school. In his efforts to support himself while attending school,
he started a small business selling jewelry. He realized that he could serve his customers better by learning goldsmith techniques,
and is a rare example of a self-taught goldsmith who perfected the craft.
Years of hard work and perseverance finally paid off for Michael, when he and his wife Amy
opened a small jewelry shop in the fashionable Westwood district of Los Angeles. He received
recognition for the quality of his goldsmith skills and unique designs; many of Hollywood’s celebrities became his clients.
In time, Michael and Amy were sought after by other jewelers to create pieces for them. In 1990 they left their own
shop to focus on creating jewelry for fine jewelry shops. With this, Michael truly found his niche. In 1995
Michael won 3 prestigious Modern Jeweler’s Buyer’s Choice Awards for his manufacturing skill and designs.
"Archeological jewelry has always fascinated me."
Michael recently brought fine jewelry design into the new millennium by using computer technology and high-tech equipment,
originally designed to manufacture delicate and precise machine parts for the aerodynamics industry. Michael’s engineering
and goldsmith background (and tenacity) enabled him to master this complex technology. Currently he is among the few jewelry
designers in North America using this technology to carve incredibly detailed and precise models.
In discussing how fine Jewelry design co-exists with computer technology,
Michael comments that it is similar to a poet using a computer to type poetry: the result is
still a poem, because the poet first created it in his mind.
Michael Jiang Design
I am marveled by the techniques used in the classical period
by the artisans in Egypt, Greece and Etruria. How they accomplished granulation and complex soldering remains a mystery today.
Through my study in metallurgy and experimentations; I realized that thousands of years ago, they knew how to manipulate the composition of gold alloy
to different melting points. This idea has helped me to create a 14-karat gold alloy that can withstand
multiple soldering without any surface damage. Solders that flow through seams fill gaps perfectly without spilling. "I believe it’s
the pursuit of quality that has set me apart from other jewelry designers," says Michael.
www.jewelrybymichaeljiang.com - Tel 800-487-0701 - Tel 213-892-0701 - Fax 213-892-0843
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