Julia Edmunds has been in training as a jewelry designer almost all of her life. Some of her earliest and fondest memories were of spending Saturdays with her father looking for minerals and gems in the North Carolina mountains and helping her father design settings for them.

Throughout high school and college Julia designed and made her own jewelry, always searching for new materials and creating new designs. After graduate school and while living in South Florida, Julia began to devote herself completely to finding beautiful stones and traveling to foreign destinations to find interesting pieces to incorporate into her jewelry. During these trips she learned more about the history and designs of European and Asian societies’ jewelry.

For the past six years Julia has devoted herself to creating three very unique and exquisite lines of jewelry. Each of her collections has been inspired by her travels and her studies. She has studied at Penland School of Craft, John C. Campbell Folk School and with the GIA in addition to working with silversmiths, blacksmiths and other artists in their studios. Julia lives and has her studio on a small farm near Charlotte, NC.

The first collection centered on the romantic ideal of the 1940-1950 cocktail parties. The Cocktail Collection is a colorful yet elegant collection of semiprecious gems and antique and vintage stones and glass which are designed to enhance and compliment any style. This collection launched her company Alexander Edmunds into business.

While studying with the GIA Julia became entranced with the history, beauty and mystery of pearls and used the organic gem as the focal point of the new Estate Collection. Pieces from this collection have found their way into many jewelry stores. The elegant and sophisticated inclusion of precious stones such as rubies, emeralds and sapphires with large cultured pearls has helped The Estate Collection earn a reputation as “exquisite heirloom quality jewels with a twenty-first century twist.”

The newest collection, The Sterling Collection, was conceived in 2005. This collection fuses both ancient and modern silversmithing techniques. The Sterling Collection blends metals such as gold, copper, silver and brass. Some pieces look like waves or clouds of metals over lapping while others have a very 1930’s industrial feel to them. Many of the pieces in this collection are one of a kind and use coins, glass and unique pieces of exotic wood as a partner to the fluid nature of the mixed metals.

Currently Julia is studying the art of blacksmithing and plans on creating a new line of jewelry and accessories which revolve around this time honored art.

She is a member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and The Artist Blacksmiths Association of North America-North Carolina Chapter.