© 2012 Robinson Designer Goldsmith.
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Welcome to RDGs page, Robinson Designer Goldsmith is a family owned and opperated business based in Auckland, New Zealand with the team consisting of Ken Robinson and twin sons David and Michael Robinson.
Ken Robinson started his jewellery career at a young age with a manufacturing jewellery store in Auckland before moving to London in 1986 to further his jewellery career.
Ken first worked at Chaumet the prestigious French jeweller on Londons Bond St, before following his passion for diamonds with a job at the worlds oldest diamond trading company based in Antwerp, Belgium.
On Kens return to New Zealand he started a diamond importing company before being lured back into jewellery design and manufacture. RDG as you see it today came into being in 2001 with Ken and his twin sons, award winning jewellers David and Michael, opening an exclusive studio in Takapuna Auckland where they handmake their one of a kind unique jewellery.
Every RDG jewel is handmade to the highest of standards, using the very best of materials, then proudly stamped with the RDG hallmark. RDG guarantees that the gold used is ethically recovered in New Zealand and that all stones used are conflict free.
Ken Robinson started his jewellery career at a young age with a manufacturing jewellery store in Auckland before moving to London in 1986 to further his jewellery career.
Ken first worked at Chaumet the prestigious French jeweller on Londons Bond St, before following his passion for diamonds with a job at the worlds oldest diamond trading company based in Antwerp, Belgium.
On Kens return to New Zealand he started a diamond importing company before being lured back into jewellery design and manufacture. RDG as you see it today came into being in 2001 with Ken and his twin sons, award winning jewellers David and Michael, opening an exclusive studio in Takapuna Auckland where they handmake their one of a kind unique jewellery.
Every RDG jewel is handmade to the highest of standards, using the very best of materials, then proudly stamped with the RDG hallmark. RDG guarantees that the gold used is ethically recovered in New Zealand and that all stones used are conflict free.
Looking through a large jewellery book I see a jewel with a rich history, the original beautifully hand
painted design drawing from 1867 still survives today.The Archive makes note of the workshop that
created it. The workshop was filled with some of the most skilled craftsmen in the world, able to take
raw lumps of dull metal and transform them by hand into intricate works of art with great soul,
beauty and a life of there own.
The art of jewellery making has an amazing history. For centuries jewels have been created one at
a time in small workshops by artists hands, using centuries of accumulated knowledge and skills
passed down from generation to generation.
Jewellers often spent weeks or even months making a single masterpiece, producing the most
beautiful high quality product possible, sadly this is no longer the case with the majority of today's
jewellery where quality workmanship has become a true rarity. Todays main concern is making
large volumes of jewellery with the least amount of effort or skill by a craftsperson, the result is most
often poor quality, uninspiring pieces.
Computer Aided Design ( CAD ) makes it possible today to produce an infinite number of identical pieces that are created in seconds with the aid of a casting machine. This is great when making components for an appliance or use in Industry but not when creating an enduring family jewel or artistic gift of love. When casting the molten metal must flow and expand to fill all the gaps created in the mold. Alloys are added to make the gold flow more freely,this leads to an often porous product and less dense metal structure than that of a hand forged piece.
painted design drawing from 1867 still survives today.The Archive makes note of the workshop that
created it. The workshop was filled with some of the most skilled craftsmen in the world, able to take
raw lumps of dull metal and transform them by hand into intricate works of art with great soul,
beauty and a life of there own.
The art of jewellery making has an amazing history. For centuries jewels have been created one at
a time in small workshops by artists hands, using centuries of accumulated knowledge and skills
passed down from generation to generation.
Jewellers often spent weeks or even months making a single masterpiece, producing the most
beautiful high quality product possible, sadly this is no longer the case with the majority of today's
jewellery where quality workmanship has become a true rarity. Todays main concern is making
large volumes of jewellery with the least amount of effort or skill by a craftsperson, the result is most
often poor quality, uninspiring pieces.
Computer Aided Design ( CAD ) makes it possible today to produce an infinite number of identical pieces that are created in seconds with the aid of a casting machine. This is great when making components for an appliance or use in Industry but not when creating an enduring family jewel or artistic gift of love. When casting the molten metal must flow and expand to fill all the gaps created in the mold. Alloys are added to make the gold flow more freely,this leads to an often porous product and less dense metal structure than that of a hand forged piece.
A piece of cast jewellery has to be cleaned by filing down the imperfections and roughness that casting causes, resulting in a less precise product. Areas of the casting that cleaning tools can not reach retain the very rough molten surface of imperfections, a disfiguring signature of casting.
The difference between a fine handmade piece of jewellery and a CAD cast piece is the same as the difference between a beautiful oil painting by a Master or a print of that same painting from a copy machine.
During hand making metal is compressed and hammered into shape leaving a very dense and strong surface that is less likely to deform and be more scratch resistant and durable. These great properties of forged metal is the reason why F1 teams use forged wheels on their race cars rather than cast wheels that are standard on street cars.
At RDG we celebrate that jewellery is a luxury product, it should take your breath away every time it is worn. What better way to acknowledge your special occasion than with a jewel that has been designed and handmade by a highly skilled jewellery artist. By handmaking our pieces we can apply the same mirror like polish to all areas of a piece prior to assembling the finished jewel resulting in a vastly superior finish.
Our workshop is equipped with the traditional tools of our craft as well as the most modern hand tools available today allowing us to handmake jewellery that is second to none. We are honoured to carry on the rich tradition of handmaking our jewels , keeping the dying art alive and well in our workshop.
Here at RDG ideas are developed using pencil and watercolour, painted by the same hand that will create the finished jewel.This age old process allows us to prove the designs both for their beauty and structural integrity before they are bought to life in metal and gems.
The difference between a fine handmade piece of jewellery and a CAD cast piece is the same as the difference between a beautiful oil painting by a Master or a print of that same painting from a copy machine.
During hand making metal is compressed and hammered into shape leaving a very dense and strong surface that is less likely to deform and be more scratch resistant and durable. These great properties of forged metal is the reason why F1 teams use forged wheels on their race cars rather than cast wheels that are standard on street cars.
At RDG we celebrate that jewellery is a luxury product, it should take your breath away every time it is worn. What better way to acknowledge your special occasion than with a jewel that has been designed and handmade by a highly skilled jewellery artist. By handmaking our pieces we can apply the same mirror like polish to all areas of a piece prior to assembling the finished jewel resulting in a vastly superior finish.
Our workshop is equipped with the traditional tools of our craft as well as the most modern hand tools available today allowing us to handmake jewellery that is second to none. We are honoured to carry on the rich tradition of handmaking our jewels , keeping the dying art alive and well in our workshop.
Here at RDG ideas are developed using pencil and watercolour, painted by the same hand that will create the finished jewel.This age old process allows us to prove the designs both for their beauty and structural integrity before they are bought to life in metal and gems.
We then use techniques that Faberge's workshop would have used to make the Tzars Bejeweled Eggs or Chaumet to make Napoleons Jewels. By adhering to these high standards we make jewellery that is not just another consumer product from a faceless factory in a developing country. But instead, jewellery that is a fine work of art, a one of a kind luxury piece with great provenance. We create all our jewellery in the workshop of our Takapuna Beach boutique.
Todays handmade jewels will be appreciated by collectors of the future just as we admire the skill and beauty of previous centuries handmade jewellery.
Todays handmade jewels will be appreciated by collectors of the future just as we admire the skill and beauty of previous centuries handmade jewellery.