Last week, a visit to King Baby’s workshop happened and our minds were blown. Mitchell’s publicity and press releases have always emphasized that KB products are “Handmade in America” and it would be easy to mentally substitute “Assembled in America,” but that’s definitely not the case.
We all know that words like “Handmade” “Pure,” “Genuine,” and “Top Quality” have been ground into dust by overuse and, frankly, dishonesty. So let us make it very clear that in the case of King Baby jewelry, those words are used in their most accurate and truthful sense.
Believe it. We’re talking eyewitness testimony, here.
Past comments about .925 Sterling silver, that it is an alloy of pure silver and just enough copper to give the material strength and durability, were wholly accurate. However, who knew that Mitchell takes pure silver, melts it at 1700+ degrees Fahrenheit and mixes the alloy with (almost) bare hands? The alloy used by King Baby is proprietary – and higher quality – allowing for a uniqueness not found anywhere else. How easy would it be to buy a chunk of ready-made Sterling? Mitchell doesn’t settle for that — when he says “handmade,” he means from the ground up.
Same goes for the gemstones in King Baby bling. It’s easy to buy turquoise, onyx, agate, coral and other semi-precious gems — already cut, tumbled and ready to be used. That’s not how it works in Mitchell’s Santa Monica atelier: materials come through the door in their most basic, raw form; whatever processes are necessary to bring out their beauty and prepare them for incorporation into a piece of King Baby jewelry, take place on-site and by hand. Yes, there is a machine that turns silver wire into chains, but it’s like something out of the Industrial Revolution, chugging and clanking and carefully watched over by Quality Control, i.e. Mitchell Binder himself
It would also be easy to tap into the world market for gemstones, but Mitchell insists that every piece of King Baby originates on American soil.
So understand that when you look at a product description on the King Baby website or in a King Baby store, you’re looking at total transformation of a raw material into jewelry, on-site in Santa Monica, CA (or in a near-identical King Baby operation in Nashville, TN). See a flat-wrapped curb link chain? That was a length of wire when it went in the door. See a stunning piece of turquoise or agate? It was a rock. A massive silver ring — it was cast in lost-wax from a hand-carved mold.
Bottom line: the mystique and magic of King Baby designs emanates mostly from the sheer heft and beauty of bold, maverick designs. But under the surface, where the Mojo lives, the Chosen Few are wearing jewelry that is American-sourced, individually hand-crafted, created and realized in the fires and forges of one small studio in Santa Monica, CA.
King Baby’s brand of one-at-a-time craftsmanship is rare and precious in today’s world. Get yourself a piece of it. Join the Chosen Few.
Click HERE to watch the first in a series of Interviews that we shot with Mitchell.
More info (and pre-order) available at King Baby.
