About me
Oore Jewelry is founded and run by me, Uma. I started making and selling my creations at the age of 18.
In 2012 I took my first metalsmithing class and found the perfect medium for me to create my art in. I've always loved when jewelry looks magical and made by human hands, from the design part to the making aspects as well. I personally don't use Ai in any aspect of my design and making process, and I firmly think that nothing can replace the idea's that come from our brains and the magic that we can create from that.
I am a dreamer at heart, my head is always in the clouds dreaming of creating something new that makes you feel a pang of longing for a world that doesn’t exist. I am a huge book nerd, and spend a large portion of my free time reading fantasy.
My jewelry inspiration comes first from nature, which is where I find myself most when I'm not in the studio. I love hiking and spending time in the forest, which I hope translates over into my work. I live just outside of WNC in the Appalachian Mountains and I am constantly inspired by the beauty of this region.
I started my journey hand fabricating each ring, which then led into learning wax carving/casting and then learning CAD, which has now evolved to how I lovingly make each piece. Most of my rings bases are made in CAD by me (although Christian just joined my team to help me full time with CADs) which is actually quite a long process (at least for me) to get each detail lined up perfectly. I also combine that with wax carving and a few details are fabricated. My rings are then sent to my Casting company to be cast. While I know how to cast, I personally don't like to do that process anymore and don’t find it an efficient use of my time, and I am happy to work with a few different high end casting companies in the United States to help me. Rings are then sent back to me where they get polished, engraved, and stones set. I also work directly with two of my casting houses to help me polish and set some of my designs. As my business has grown, I have decided to take a small step back and finally have more help and more jewelers on my team to help me with the finishing aspects of my rings, I am honored by the talent of the jewelers I use to help me finish my rings that I pour so much of myself into. Jeff is my full time in person jeweler who handles all of my repairs and resizes. I have been making jewelry for over 12 years now, with basically no breaks and due to health issues in both of my wrists and fingers, I can't keep up with making rings just by myself. I am hoping to grow even more with a small in person jewelry team in years to come and hoping to open a location in the near future! I still work on every single piece, but it is nice to finally have some help with the things that take a toll on my body. I am a dreamer at heart and my love lies with designing truly magical rings, and I would like to spend more time to do that and to learn new skills, mostly getting better and having more time to learn hand engraving.
I try my best to source all of my stones from small businesses, my main suppliers are Caleb Quashen, Misfit diamonds, Sorbet Sapphire ,John Dyer, Truth Seeker Gems, Sapphirus Lanka and a few other small businesses. For metal, I try to work with my casting house to ensure recycled gold is used. No one is perfect, but I can say I try my best to make my business as ethical as I can, in all aspects. To me being ethical is more than the stones I use, it's about treating and paying everyone with what they deserve and supporting small businesses as much as I can. I think there is always room to improve, and I can honestly say that I will always try my best to continue improving in any aspect of my business.
I believe in kindness above all else, and I am truly thankful every single day to be able to make magical rings and play such an important role in your lives. I do not take a single part of it for granted and I am and will forever be honored to be a part of your lives.
To contact us, please email us at info@oorejewelry.com!
Thank you for supporting me and my dream, wishing you so much love and happiness xo
I also am always happy to give advice to people who would like to get into making jewelry! Working in metal is an amazing thing, and I truly want everyone to be as successful as possible. I will say my number one advice is take a metalsmithing class, even if you don't want to make jewelry yourself long term, I think it's invaluable to understand how metal works, what is sturdy and durable enough.