Lady LUX

It was always Christine Mighion’s dream to pursue her love for style. In her youth, she followed her parent’s advice and chose practicality over taking the risk and pursuing art. After years as a dental hygienist, the Indiana-based designer decided to give her guilty pleasure a try. What happened? An overnight success was born, resulting in a eco-friendly jewelry line now seen in SELF Magazine. Christine chatted with LadyLUX over lunch, letting us know how a dental hygienist became a renowned metal smith.

LadyLUX: How did you from dental hygienist to designer?
Christina Mighion: I was always into art. As a child I drew like crazy. On the weekends I would just pull out a magazine and start drawing people. I also did some modeling out in Hawaii, so I was always into fashion. The art was really discouraged by my mother. She set me up for the interest in dental school and I went through that. I ended up moving to Hawaii, put [dentistry] aside for a while and started falling back into art. Once I had my second child and stayed home, I took a couple metal smithing classes and fell back in love. I knew that was going to be what I would do.

LL: Why jewelry specifically?
CM: Well jewelry, because of the metal smith courses that I took… they really set me up for that. The classes were really basic – learning to make a ring shank, learning to set a stone… I’m a metal smith now. I work with sheet metal and heavy gauge wire. I actually took the classes at a local museum. It was more for fun, than anything.

LL: You only took a couple classes to learn how to make jewelry? That’s impressive.
CM: Honestly, once you learn the basic skills behind forming, saudering metal, and setting stones… you can really extend from there. After that first class, I went and bought the equipment I needed to start my own makeshift studio in my home. I taught myself a lot.

LL: When you bought the equipment, did you know you were staring a business?
CM: In my head, I saw this working and I loved it. It’s one of those things… that sense of knowing what you want to do. I hit up some local galleries and saw what people were selling. I knew that the product I could offer would sell well too. So I thought, “I’m just gonna try this.”

LL: Do you still make it all yourself?
CM: Yes, I make it all in my studio. Everything is made to order. I don’t have pieces sitting around. I make my collection and some samples, that I then send out for press. Everything else is made to order. I also love to make one-of-a-kind pieces, because there are some amazing stones out there.

LL: Dental hygienists work with their hands… Do you feel any parallels between the work?
CM: Yes! It’s a very detail-oriented and meticulous process. You are working quite a bit with your hands and it’s very sculptural. You have to be pretty gentle, otherwise you’re going to leave somebody in a lot of pain.

LL: When did your line take off?
CM: I was selling at local galleries for quite a while, since about 2004. I happened upon Etsy in 2007. I thought, “This looks good, I could try that,” and I did really well. I wanted to take it up a notch and start a fine jewelry line, but still keep the organic feel. Just last November, we launched the new line and Web site.

LL: All your jewelry is eco-friendly?
CM: Yes, I use all recycled gold and silver. The majority of my line is gold. I use all conflict-free diamonds. Whenever possible, I try to use ethically mined stones but those are difficult to come by. Since the environment is unharmed and the stones are pan-mined, they’re very hard to get a hold of. As interest grows and the public becomes more aware, I think industry will change as well.

LL: This may be a silly question, but where do you get recycled gold?
CM: There’s actually a company within the U.S., they’re called Hoover & Strong, and that’s all they do. I think people must sell their gold to local shops and then they send it to them to be refined and cleaned. I also melt down some of my old scraps and use them for my organic discs, or backs for pendants.

LL: Your Web site notes that you support a lot of charities, such as Haiti Relief, The Ronald McDonald House, St. Jude’s, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Humane Society and others. Do you donate a percentage of your proceeds to them?
CM: They’re all different. For example, with the Haiti fund, all my sales from my Rose Quartz ring ($300) go to it. For the different charities, I set aside different pieces. Most of the time it’s about 10 percent of the profit for the particular piece. That’s been a really important thing to me. In the beginning, I used to just give to charities every quarter. I feel really lucky to do what I do, sell my work and make a profit. I want to give back and help causes that are important to me.

LL: Where do you see your line going?
CM: I don’t really have a clear vision of where things will go, it just happens. Right now, I’m working on untraditional wedding rings. I’ve had a lot of requests for that. So hopefully by winter I’ll have a line of engagement rings and some bridal pieces. I think that’s the next big step. Since my line is so new, I’d love to get into some eco-boutiques. I don’t see myself as one of those mass jewelry artists. I don’t plan on being in Macy’s. I want to keep it small and for people that really appreciate it.

Take a peek at the gallery for a look at Christine’s luxury jewelry. For more information and a chance to buy, check out her Web site at ChristineMighion.com.

Tagged in: lux exclusives, jewelry, green, christina mighion, eco-friendly,

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