Sholdt

When inspired design meets incomparable craftmanship the result is memorable. Our rings, designed to be unique works of art, are custom made to order. Master jewellers create each piece by hand, using perfected methods and exacting standards. Each ring is better than perfect. it's art.

Sholdt rings give the diamond center stage, revealing its truest brilliance.

Throughout the 80’s local jewelry retailers moved towards doing repairs in-house, and Sholdt had to adapt. Brian and Dusty began augmenting their repair work with a small custom line known as “Rain City Rings”. Brian took the reigns as designer, and Dusty stepped up from the workbench to oversee operations. To give their line a more “designerly” feel the name was changed to B. Sholdt, and later simply to Sholdt.

Their jewelry design followed a similar course. By reducing everything to its most fundamental qualities, distilling it to its essence, each piece became a study in simplicity. Because Sholdt employed its own shop - a rare thing in the trade - the pieces were designed with the input of the craftsmen that would later build them. The resulting wedding rings seemed a perfect blend of artistry, beauty, and emotion. Customers and critics embrased them, and in the years that followed Sholdt was honored with several important design awards, including the AGTA Spectrum Award on four separate occasions - once as Best of Show - and the prestigious DeBeers Diamonds Today Award.

“Winning Best of Show that year was huge,” says Brian. “It gave us tremendous international exposure and opened a lot of doors. It was really a turning point for us. I think that’s when we went from being just a repair shop to being an honest-to-goodness design house.”

As sales of the line grew and orders came in, the need for experienced jewelers also increased. Though often pressed to keep up with the workload, Brian and Dusty remained true to the Sholdt ethic of hiring only the most gifted craftsmen available…and keeping them. Today most of Sholdt’s employees have been with the company 15 years or more. As more and more American companies ship their production overseas, the brothers still insist on keeping all production at home in Seattle.

“I think our biggest strength is the talented people that have been with us forever,” says Dusty. “We have the ability to do anything a client wants or needs. We have so much accumulated knowledge that it allows us to do and try what others won’t. It’s our niche.”

In January 2009 Sholdt moved operations to the historic Tully’s Roasting Plant - perhaps better known to Seattle natives as the landmark Rainier Brewery. Besides being a roasting plant, a portion of the structure serves as work and rehearsal space for artists and musicians. Becoming part of this “Artsbrewery”, as it is known, has proved a perfect fit for Sholdt.

“It has enhanced how we make our jewelry and interact with customers,” says Brian. “Being part of such a vibrant arts community has really strengthened our brand.”

Brian's daughter Kalee has now also joined the company as the sales rep, working to introduce the line to an ever increasing audience. With more jewelers carrying the line each year, Sholdt is quickly becoming a household name. Still, whatever success they find as designers, for the Sholdt brothers the jewelry trade is above all about family and history. They don't just make jewelry because they have a passion for it; they make it because that is what their family does.

They make jewelry...and they make dust.