HE is a native of Vilnius, Lithuania, who started up jewellery business in the United States and brought the entirely different jewellery with a spirit of Old Europe to the local market. He is a reader who gets inspired from great literary works, and once said when he designs a piece of jewellery, it is like writing a book. “Each design is a chapter, not in words but in shapes and textures. I make precious stones and cold metals speak.” Most importantly, he is a designer who insists on personal design philosophy - to intentionally create contagious and universal beauty in jewellery - under the eponymous brand Alex Sepkus... Amongst many roles, Alex Sepkus designs handmade and good-looking jewellery intuitively with a very high quality of craftsmanship.
Influenced by his father who was an architect, Alex Sepkus received his graduate degree in industrial design from Lithuanian Academy of Arts. He said that the training made him always think about ergonomics, and his father’s architectural and graphic design taught him to love art and calligraphy. “I can’t imagine making a piece (of jewellery) that would not be comfortable to wear all the time,” he expressed.
With a strong understanding and respect for precision and balance, Sepkus developed a great passion for the intricacies of his craftsmanship. In 1988, he immigrated to America and quickly garnered the attention and recognition from the industry by his works. He earned the Jewelers of America (JA) New Designer of the Year Award within his first five years. His designs are showcased in over 100 of the finest specialty stores around the country from Fox’s Seattle to Tiny Jewel Box in Washington, DC. For the company’s jewellery making procedures, Sepkus controls each first piece of jewellery entirely from the original carving to the finished design. Once he completed a piece, he will bring it to the 18-craftsman team, and train them on how to execute the techniques used to make the design. Once they have mastered the specific skills, the piece is put into production. Each process is done completely with hands in their shop in New York City, even though they have over 150 stores in the US alone, and many others in Puerto Rico, Lithuania, and China.
In order to avoid distractions and force a certain discipline in making the consistent high-quality jewellery pieces like the original one, Sepkus and his team work under microscopes, from hand hammering, chasing, engraving, gemstone setting, and final finishing, with no small detail compromised.
“I do not keep my technique a secret. It’s simply the thing I do with my fingers that transfer the idea from my head to the material,” said Alex Sepkus. Without any second thoughts, his style comes naturally and intuitively, reflecting the designer’s personality and skills. He prefers to carve directly onto the material while rarely sketches on paper. “Working directly on the material adds spontaneity to the final result. It is more difficult, but satisfying,” he explained.
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