Hip and Hand-Forged, Jan D Launches Jewelry For Men.

jan d jewelry for men hero IIHIH
Dutch-born Jan D. has been designing gallery-quality jewelry pieces for decades. Having created stunning pieces for women for over 30 years, he’s now embarked on a new venture. Working with sterling silver and metals (for the first time), Jan D. has launched a line of jewelry for men.

Jan D portrait
above left: Jan D. Gjaltema; above right: his unusual signature that is stamped into his work

Jan D Jewelry for Men consists of multiple collections: The Metropolis, The Forged and The Red Dot .
metropolis cuff necklace and cuff linksForged collection4 jan D IIHIHForged collection2 jan D IIHIH
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THE METROPOLIS COLLECTION
The Metropolis collection was inspired by Fritz Lang’s legendary 1927 Sci-Fi movie of the same name.  It is the largest and  features 5 strap bracelets, 1 bangle bracelet, 1 cuff bracelet, 2 necklaces, 3 rings, cuff links, tie bars, key rings and money clips in modern masculine and solid geometric forms. The pieces are available in several different metals (copper, brass, yellow gold tone, red gold tone or matte blackened) or sterling silver (oxidized or shiny).

The Metropolis Bracelets combine metal or sterling silver with red accented hand-stitched goat leather, buckles and a stamped tag. All the pieces are stamped with his unusual signature.
jan d bracelets metropolis bracelets 2 styles IIHIHmetropolis bracelets 3 IIHIHmetropolis bracelets 4 IIHIH
The Metropolis Cuff:
metropolis cuffs jan d
The Metropolis Rings:
metropolis 1 ringmetropolis 2 ringmetropolis ring #3
The Metropolis Cuff Links:
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The Metropolis Necklaces:
IMG_7412_grandemetropolis necklace 2 blackenedmetropolis necklace 2IMG_4505_grande

THE FORGED COLLECTION
His Forged Collection consists of a strap bracelets, a cuff bracelet, cuff links, tuxedo studs and tie bars made with various metals or sterling silver. Each piece is hand made and no two are alike. All the pieces are stamped with his unusual signature.
forged collection gold Jan D IIHIHForged collection jan D IIHIHForged collection2 jan D IIHIHForged collection4 jan D IIHIH

The Forged Bracelets with adjustable Goat leather strap:
forged brass braceletforged blackened braceletforged sterling braceletforged bracelet in pouch
The Forged Cuff Bracelet:
forged cuff bracelets
The Forged Cuff Links:
forged cuff links
The Forged Tuxedo Studs:
forged tuxedo studs
The Forged Tie Bars:
forged tie bars

THE RED DOT COLLECTION
The Red Dot collection features a cuff bracelet, a ring, a necklace, cuff links, tuxedo studs and a tie bar, each accented with inlaid red resin dots.

The Red Dot Cuff Bracelet:
red dot braceletRed dot cuffs gold and silver
Red Dot Rings:
red dot rings
Red Dot Necklaces:
red dot necklace blackenedred dot rose metal necklacered dot sterling necklace
Red Dot Cuff Links:
red dot cuff links
Red Dot Tie Tacks:
red dot tie tacks

Jan D has several other pieces for men including classic multi-link chain bracelets, black resin inlaid rings and more, all available on his website.

About Jan D. Gjaltema, the jewelry designer:
During his years as an architecture student, Dutch born Jan D. won a national contest for a new urban design of Rotterdam’s inner city, the “Weena prijsvraag “. At the end of the 1970s he received his Masters Degree in Architecture from the Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, where Rem Koolhaas currently teaches. After graduating, Jan began his career as a designer. During the 1970s he also studied lithography at the “vrije academie” “psychopolis” in The Hague.

Jan D. has been engaged in the design of furniture, glass, iron since the early 1980s, and has also occasionally dabbled into architecture, but he has been predominantly focusing on jewelry for the past 15 years.

The very private, some say reclusive, Jan D. is probably the only well-known jewelry designer that does not display his creations at craft and trade shows. Like many other well-known artists, his designs have often been copied but never duplicated to his high standard of craftsmanship.

Though Jan D.’s initial success occurred in Europe, his work is now in demand throughout the United States. Currently, more than 50 galleries in the U.S. represent his works.

All of Jan D.’s creations are handcrafted and fabricated – none are cast. He works with inlays of abalone, mother of pearl and resin in many different colors as well as with precious stones. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he did work in matte finish oxidized silver, and in the mid 1990s he created an extensive line with the combination of rosewood and silver. In the early years of this century he also worked with hand torched translucent enamel, and later fashioned a line with a glass /silver combination. In 2008 he presented a new jewelry line with silver and black obsidian, aventurine and rose quartz. The artist has also worked in .925 silver, 14KT and 18KT gold.

From the huge scale of urban design to the now smallest of detail in his jewelry, one can say that Jan D. has come full circle.

Shop his new men’s jewelry collections here