This Milan-Based Japanese Jeweler Plays With Gold In Her Minimalist Creations

Proposing minimalist, ethereal and discreet pieces for daily wear, Keiko Yakushi stretches gold into thin rods, allowing the metal to express itself as harmoniously and simply as possible. Making her own gold alloy, everything starts on the bench: she never draws or uses lost-wax casting, but melts the gold herself in her atelier, laminates it and solders it, before calling on the savoir-faire of Milan-based engravers, embossers and stone-setters boasting more than 30 years of experience. Her jewels don’t stem from a precise design, but from continuous experimentation and extensive knowledge of the material.

Tell me about your origins.

I was born in Japan in 1982 in Hyogo, in the city of Itami. In 2004, I enrolled in a goldsmith course and, in 2005, I won the Kobe Fashion Contest in the jewelry category. I was then sent to Italy in 2005 to attend the goldsmith school in Valenza, Piedmont. I stayed there for three years, studying goldsmithing and learning Italian, as well as gaining my first work experience in the goldsmith field. In 2008, I moved to Milan and started working with a small but significant Milanese jewelry brand. After 10 years, in 2019, the Keiko Yakushi brand was born. I work in my workshop in the center of Milan and receive customers by appointment only. One of my plans for the coming years is to present my collection to the public through traveling exhibitions in flats where people can try on my jewelry in an intimate and informal atmosphere.

How did you become interested in jewelry?

I became interested in this world when I was living in Japan, making small jewelry for my friends. My creations were made with non-precious materials, but I was very impressed by how happy people were to receive them. I liked to see how happy people were when they wore them and made them their own. These early experiences made me curious about the world of jewelry and goldsmithing, and I discovered that complex and extraordinary shapes could be created from metal. With this new awareness, I enrolled in a goldsmith’s course in my hometown of Itami. While I was studying, I took part in and won a jewelry competition in Kobe, and the prize for this competition gave me a scholarship to come to Italy to learn and further my knowledge of goldsmithing. I was supposed to stay in Italy for a year, but I stayed for three years without ever returning home. I studied in Valenza, and meeting the Italians and Italy made me love gold. The great Italian tradition of goldsmithing and the way Italians wear gold jewelry in their everyday lives inspired me and made me realize that I wanted to create with this material. I therefore understood that I wanted to stay in Italy and be part of their tradition, learning from them and looking for my own way of making jewelry.

Describe to me your design language and philosophy.

Simple shapes, everyday use, creations for a person to wear. I see the jewelry I create as a daily companion for those who buy or receive it. In my work, I am inspired by metal. Gold, beyond its precious light, is flexible and ductile, indeed it is the most malleable of all metals. Many of my works are created on the goldsmith’s bench, with often simple shapes. By drawing out the metal, I create the rods, I work on the thicknesses. I always try to treat gold with a few gestures, letting the material express itself in simple, harmonious and recognizable forms. Everything starts on the bench; I never draw. I don’t use lost-wax casting, everything starts from the metal. I melt the metal, I laminate, I solder, I create the clasps. I try to close the object in a cycle that is as harmonious and simple as possible. In my approach to jewelry, I always tend to subtract elements, simplifying form and use. I am not interested in making high-impact jewelry; I try to create jewelry from scratch that lives on in people’s everyday lives. I don’t sell in other shops; I try to do local events where I present my collections. I make few pieces, all very well thought out on people in a very direct relationship.

Being a jeweler and goldsmith, what is your approach towards gold, and how is this reflected in your jewelry creations?

Gold is, for me, the best material to work with, but even here you have to be careful. For the type of work I do, I use only 18-carat gold. Also, for me, gold is only yellow. I refuse to use white or red, not to mention 9-carat gold, which is not good for my creations.

Where do you source your gold?

This question is very interesting, as gold is virtually untraceable. Personally, I like the way gold takes on new life all the time. Here in Italy, for example, all families used to give gold to their children during certain rites of passage, or passing down necklaces and rings from one generation to the next. Today, customers often bring that gold and that jewelry and have them melted down to make other new creations without losing anything precious to them. My first collection, for example, came from a gold bar that my grandmother gave me in Japan before I left for Italy. I do not use gold from ethical sources because here in Italy it is not easy to find. Clearly the sector is very regulated, but I am aware that gold being a safe haven and a metal that’d not traceable also lends itself to being a material with little transparency and many gray areas.

What new innovative techniques or technologies do you incorporate in your jewelry making, and who are the artisans you work with?

Personally, I don’t care much for 3D printing. I work in the center of Milan, where there are still many craftsmen linked to the historical brands present in the city. My first engraver, who engraved by hand, worked until he was 80 years old. All by hand, a pantograph or a laser did not replace him – his cursive was extraordinary. I privilege working with craftsmen, mainly engravers and embossers, all people with more than 30 years of experience. Moreover, meeting and sharing workplaces with goldsmiths who are older than me has always allowed me to ask for advice and to “steal” tricks and solutions; all this has been fundamental for me.