About Edelstein Metalsmiths
NOTICE August 2022: My book is currently full for custom orders. Please contact us if you'd like to get on my waiting list for future projects.
My name is Joshua Edelstein, and I'd like to be your jeweler. Let’s start a conversation!
My main goal as your jeweler is to design something that isn't merely beautiful but that also tells a meaningful story—whether it's about the person it's designed for or about something that simply needs to be expressed and encapsulated in precious metals and glittering gems. Art without narration risks merely being product; these stories, on the other hand—in particular your stories—connect you and me, and everyone who sees the jewelry you wear. The narrative continues with each wearing, with each telling, and with the each new experience you have.
I started smithing in 1986 in Honolulu, Hawai‘i starting with a jewelry and metalsmithing class at ‘Iolani High School. Particularly influenced by the ancient art of seal-engraving and calligraphy that I learned while living in China with my family in the early 1980s, I became fascinated by transferring design concepts from those media into metal. I also found myself interpreting the cultural influences of my own Jewish roots and the aesthetics of local Hawaiian art.
In spite of the scouting efforts of a few decent art schools, I wound up pursuing a degree in Chinese Languages and Studio Art at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. A couple of great sculpture classes and a brutalist library building at Georgetown influenced my aesthetic even more, and in 1997 I commissioned a friend to build me a workbench and resumed making jewelry. Edelstein Metalsmiths was incorporated and launched in 2007; five years later I moved home to Hawai‘i where I reincorporated, and am privileged to have made jewelry and sculpture for individuals and institutions all over the world. I'd love to make art for you.