Gold layered chains, refurbished cameos, large lavender stones and wire-wrapped rings are some of the pieces Jess Leigh Gholston offers in her jewelry line.
Jess Leigh Jewels is a line of “repurposed vintage and raw stone” Gholston created in January 2010. 
Gholston created the line the same month she moved to New Orleans after multiple back-and-forth trips from her then-home in Jacksonville, Florida. 
“It was just a time in my life where I didn’t really have any ties to Jacksonville anymore,” she said. 
The combination of New Orleans’ culture, people and her friends in the city pushed Gholston to make the permanent move. However, the city wasn’t where her jewelry inspiration began. She had been making hand-strung bead gemstone bracelets for friends who asked because of her crafty disposition before moving. 
But the Big Easy is where she began to teach herself to work with wire and put jewelry together. 
“I saw the art culture in New Orleans and the art markets when I was visiting, and I was like ‘Wow, this could be something real if I learned how to do a few more things,’” Gholston said.
So, Jess Leigh Jewels was created as a line of new meets refurbished items. 
Gholston said one of her favorite activities is searching for vintage costume jewelry to take apart and recreate to be worn on an everyday basis. This is just one area where she collects supplies. She said all of the items in her designs involve bits and pieces from all over.
For the chains and wire, Jess Leigh Jewels has a distributor because those items usually need to be new. Gholston said sometimes she will use a vintage chain, but cleans and polishes it to make sure it’s durable.
As for the stones, pendants and cameos used in her jewelry, she will buy some of the antiques at home in small, unknown shops. Gholston said she also likes to travel and always tries to bring back some finds.
She frequents a warehouse in New York City that buys antiques from closed vintage stores. For Gholston, this causes the “kid in a candy store” effect.
“It’s just like a labyrinth, and you never know what you’re going to find so that’s, of course, the best part for me,” Gholston said.
She said she then takes the time to give the antique items some love and care by polishing, replacing gems and making sure they will be durable in her jewelry. 
Once the pieces have been collected, Gholston’s design brain begins to work. 
She calls herself a “reactive designer” and will sometimes look at a jewel or cameo for a long time, sitting on ideas until she has a firm idea of what piece of jewelry she wants to create.
Once Gholston has a design in mind, she brainstorms how it will work. She said an example is a flat stone: She asks herself how will she make it stay in place, be durable but also be aesthetically pleasing and current. 
Then she begins the process of pulling all her materials out and making a giant mess. Gholston said if she could keep her design materials spread out in every direction possible, she would. 
“Eventually, that’ll be the plan, I’ll just have a secret room where I have everything all over the place all the time. That’ll be wonderful,” Gholston said. 
She said she designs a broad spectrum of styles to benefit herself and her clients. 
“I can only make so many simple stone pendant necklaces in a row before I’m bored out of my mind, so I kind of feel like my clientele is the same way,” Gholston said. 
She said if customers are able to walk past her jewelry displays and see everything she’s capable of without stopping, then she’s failed to do her job. Jess Leigh Jewels’ tagline is “There’s something for every girl” because each of her pieces is one-of-a-kind. 
Gholston sells her jewelry online but also has select boutiques in New Orleans that carry pieces, such as Fraques, Bella and Harlow, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Fifi Mahony’s. 
“My goal is to keep it exclusive in New Orleans because I don’t want to be in every single store,” Gholston said. “I want to be very choosy as to who has the line just because I still want everybody to know that’s special even if I have four retailers in the city including myself.” 
However, Jess Leigh Jewels is not afraid of expansion and Gholston has started taking courses on raising production. 
You can reach Meg Ryan on Twitter @The_MegRyan.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Zoe Geauthreaux

New Orleans-based jewelry designer Jess Leigh Gholston uses refurbished items to create her product line.