The goldsmith works by Kent Raible at Gia, among American Gothic and Baroque styles.
Some time ago one of his works was exhibited at Gia, the Gemological Institute of America. Opera is the right word, because those of Kent Raible are not just jewelry, but small mazes of gold among an American neo gothic, like the one portrayed in the famous painting by Grant Wood, and a nineteenth-century Baroque, more a little bit empire style. In short, virtuosity and eclecticism hand in hand. It’s a style that, maybe, don’t is loved by those who love the simple lines of modern jewelry, forms of Nordic design, seasoned lines from base geometries.
Raible is quite the opposite: inlays, volumes are several, engraved metal, rings that enclose another ring. All it mounted in yellow gold with a vaguely Indian flavor. What is considered one of the goldsmith masters made in the USA began his career in 1973. Largely self-taught, Kent has also gone abroad for two years, in Germany, to refine the techniques. Her jewels are also exhibited in museums such as the Smithsonian.
In early 2015 Kent Raible was contacted by a new client who wanted a statement piece: his only request was that it be designed around the theme Vanishing Illusions, a Buddhist concept about the impermanence of things. The idea turned into a gold and platinum prayer wheel, which rotates a large carved aquamarine behind an aquamarine crystal. Gems such as sapphires of different colors have been added to the jewel.
