Tony Baxter - "The Julia" Necklace
$13,000.00
Availability:
In stock
SKU
129803
"The Julia" Necklace.
18" Chain Length.
The Julia represents to me, mastery across a very important spectrum as a traditional goldsmith. Starting with the crystal- a 16.20ct Vanadium Beryl from the Gagdi-Gum deposit in the Jos Plateau mining district in Nigeria was cut by the artist from a beautiful specimen. The stone glows a faint peach fluorescence under UV.
The chain weave- color-blocked .950 and Shakud? is a traditional knit weave, from long threads. The earliest examples of this weave date to the Mesopotamian period however it is worth noting that this is an adaptation of a much earlier technology.
Paleolithic hunters and gathers 20000-25000 years ago- especially fishing communities- routinely used a similar loop in loop weave in a variety of items and this particular technique is an adaption of the very same weave, making it- in a very real sense today- one of the longest standing technologies that humans have ever created. This weave carries with it the spirit and essence of survival in that it played a role in the survival of our species.
Stars call out the cosmological feels, flanking each side of the central stone setting with its splay of mixed 18k and .950 granulation. All barrel connections are riveted with 1mm pins for ease of maintenance.
Tony Baxter
Since childhood, I've been drawn to the land: prospecting, searching for artifacts, holding fragments of deep time in my hands. Those early pursuits grew into a fascination with human history, consciousness, and traditions beyond what most in middle America would encounter. Conversations and books written by thinkers like Rick Strassman and David Nichols shaped the way I understand creativity as both a personal and cultural inheritance. Other artists were never the inspiration for me, but rather it was the great thinkers: the shamans, the philosophers, the cosmologists who sought truth. And it's this truth that I seek and explore in my work.
Today, my jewelry bridges time and culture. I work with stones I've personally collected and cut, and I alloy my own metals and shape them using techniques rooted in antiquity and refined with modern technology. My heritage - Irish, Scottish, German, and Japanese - may not always be visible on the surface, but it informs the spirit of my designs. Each piece carries forward the tension between the ancient and the contemporary, the fragile and the enduring, the personal and the universal.
Through my work, I invite others to hold not just an object of adornment, but a story of transformation: the possibility of turning raw matter, and even hardship, into something luminous.
Artist Background
Tony's artistic approach is informed by a professional background in project management and manufacturing engineering - disciplines that reinforce his precision and process-driven creativity. His work embodies recovery, discipline, and craft evolution, turning geological and personal history into lasting, wearable architecture.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Project Management - University of Arizona, 2019-2022.
Manufacturing Engineering Technology - Apollo Career Center, 2016-2017.
Self-Taught Goldsmith, Stone Cutter, and Lapidary Artist - Ongoing Practice, 2016-Present.
2024- Golden Sphere Studios with Kent Raible.
Selected Works & Collections
Mosaic Series (2022-2023) - Multi-stone compositions using self-collected materials from two cross-country field trips.
Vanadium Beryl Studies (2025) - Optical and color depth studies using darkened bezels and vanadium-bearing beryls from the Gadgi Gum deposit.
"Legacy Bracelet" Project (2024) - Fully articulated silver bracelet with hand-engraved locality marks beneath each bezel; a technical and narrative culmination of North American fieldwork.
"Woven Dreams" 2024-2025 - I left my corporate career in November 2024 and in that time I went through months of dedicated days and weeks to what many know as "viking knit" though the term itself is a misnomer.
Techniques & Materials
Hand-fabricated bezels in various metal types.
Granulation: mixed-metal granulation. Shakud?.
Advanced lapidary (precision-cut cabochons- Navette's, Pears, and Sugarloafs).
Oxidation control for color enhancement and light behavior.
Laser granule setting technique.
Engineering-grade polish and symmetry on high-hardness materials.
Exhibitions / Submissions
We Are SNAG, 2024
Marshall M. Frederick Sculptural Museum: SVSU 2024
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.
18" Chain Length.
The Julia represents to me, mastery across a very important spectrum as a traditional goldsmith. Starting with the crystal- a 16.20ct Vanadium Beryl from the Gagdi-Gum deposit in the Jos Plateau mining district in Nigeria was cut by the artist from a beautiful specimen. The stone glows a faint peach fluorescence under UV.
The chain weave- color-blocked .950 and Shakud? is a traditional knit weave, from long threads. The earliest examples of this weave date to the Mesopotamian period however it is worth noting that this is an adaptation of a much earlier technology.
Paleolithic hunters and gathers 20000-25000 years ago- especially fishing communities- routinely used a similar loop in loop weave in a variety of items and this particular technique is an adaption of the very same weave, making it- in a very real sense today- one of the longest standing technologies that humans have ever created. This weave carries with it the spirit and essence of survival in that it played a role in the survival of our species.
Stars call out the cosmological feels, flanking each side of the central stone setting with its splay of mixed 18k and .950 granulation. All barrel connections are riveted with 1mm pins for ease of maintenance.
Tony Baxter
Since childhood, I've been drawn to the land: prospecting, searching for artifacts, holding fragments of deep time in my hands. Those early pursuits grew into a fascination with human history, consciousness, and traditions beyond what most in middle America would encounter. Conversations and books written by thinkers like Rick Strassman and David Nichols shaped the way I understand creativity as both a personal and cultural inheritance. Other artists were never the inspiration for me, but rather it was the great thinkers: the shamans, the philosophers, the cosmologists who sought truth. And it's this truth that I seek and explore in my work.
Today, my jewelry bridges time and culture. I work with stones I've personally collected and cut, and I alloy my own metals and shape them using techniques rooted in antiquity and refined with modern technology. My heritage - Irish, Scottish, German, and Japanese - may not always be visible on the surface, but it informs the spirit of my designs. Each piece carries forward the tension between the ancient and the contemporary, the fragile and the enduring, the personal and the universal.
Through my work, I invite others to hold not just an object of adornment, but a story of transformation: the possibility of turning raw matter, and even hardship, into something luminous.
Artist Background
Tony's artistic approach is informed by a professional background in project management and manufacturing engineering - disciplines that reinforce his precision and process-driven creativity. His work embodies recovery, discipline, and craft evolution, turning geological and personal history into lasting, wearable architecture.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Project Management - University of Arizona, 2019-2022.
Manufacturing Engineering Technology - Apollo Career Center, 2016-2017.
Self-Taught Goldsmith, Stone Cutter, and Lapidary Artist - Ongoing Practice, 2016-Present.
2024- Golden Sphere Studios with Kent Raible.
Selected Works & Collections
Mosaic Series (2022-2023) - Multi-stone compositions using self-collected materials from two cross-country field trips.
Vanadium Beryl Studies (2025) - Optical and color depth studies using darkened bezels and vanadium-bearing beryls from the Gadgi Gum deposit.
"Legacy Bracelet" Project (2024) - Fully articulated silver bracelet with hand-engraved locality marks beneath each bezel; a technical and narrative culmination of North American fieldwork.
"Woven Dreams" 2024-2025 - I left my corporate career in November 2024 and in that time I went through months of dedicated days and weeks to what many know as "viking knit" though the term itself is a misnomer.
Techniques & Materials
Hand-fabricated bezels in various metal types.
Granulation: mixed-metal granulation. Shakud?.
Advanced lapidary (precision-cut cabochons- Navette's, Pears, and Sugarloafs).
Oxidation control for color enhancement and light behavior.
Laser granule setting technique.
Engineering-grade polish and symmetry on high-hardness materials.
Exhibitions / Submissions
We Are SNAG, 2024
Marshall M. Frederick Sculptural Museum: SVSU 2024
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.
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