For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, I feel obliged to offer you an explanation, not an excuse per say, but a short and sweet clarification as to why my prices have gone up since my last collection was released.

Naturally as I grow as an artist my prices will increase and inflation plays a part in every supply item I buy, but you may have noticed a marked jump since last year. This jump seems to outpace inflation, because, in fact, it does.

Silver prices have almost doubled since I last released a collection. It’s quite alarming and it has put a lot of jewelers simply out of business. Not only has silver become very expensive it is also in short supply. Unlike gold, silver is heavily used in manufacturing. It is a critical component for green technology—especially solar panels and electric vehicles—as well as electronics and medical equipment. As global industries push toward these technologies, factories need massive amounts of silver.

Mining new silver is difficult because it is rarely found by itself; it is usually mined as a byproduct of other metals like copper, lead, and zinc. Because of this, mining companies can't easily ramp up products overnight just because prices are high.

I know that the jewelry I make is a luxury item. Most people aren’t buying turquoise when they can barely cover their gas and groceries. I have not adjusted the prices of pieces that were still in the store since the last collection was released. Only the new pieces reflect the price I paid for silver.

I truly hope that the price of everything comes down in the very near future. I really hope that technology doesn’t win out over clean air and water and natural resources like silver and gold. I wish I could say there is a silver lining to what is happening to our ecosystem, but I don’t see one.

For those of you still able and willing to collect my work, thank you for sticking with me through this roller coaster decade. I am very grateful to every single client.

There's No Silver Lining