Quick: picture a California gold prospector.
If you imagined an old timer with a scraggly beard and floppy hat, you're not entirely wrong — but it's time to update that image.
Bracken Jewelers, a family-run shop in Los Angeles, upends expectations by selling jewelry made from gold they've mined in the Sierra Nevada foothills, per KCRW.
The Bracken family not only debunks the old-timey prospector aesthetic, but also uses more sustainable methods than industrial-scale mining.
The shop is one of many working to retain customers amid volatile gold prices that would make Yosemite Sam blush.
A family affair
Bracken Jewelers' gold expedition began when founder Todd Bracken, while working at his father's Illinois jewelry store, unearthed a story of a man hunting for gold northwest of LA.
After moving to LA, Bracken bought a gold pan and found gold on his first outing. He opened Bracken Jewelers in 1984, where he sells vintage pieces alongside gold jewelry made from his fully-permitted Northern California mine.
The small-scale operation abides by California's strict mining laws, ensuring waterways and people are protected. Their process uses water and gravity, rather than commonly used cyanide or mercury, which leave behind toxic sludge.
Rebecca Bracken, Todd's daughter, documents the family's fully traceable operation — another industry rarity — on social media.
- Bracken Jewelry gold is 20 karats — roughly the natural state of California river gold — with a warm greenish gold hue.
- It's stamped with a grizzly bear hallmark to authenticate its California Gold composition.
- Prices range from a gold heart pendant for $850 to an $8.4k ingot.
Gold rush 2.0
Gold spiked to a historic high of $5.6k in January — thanks to inflation, geopolitical instability, and economic uncertainty — and now hovers around $4.5k/ounce.
While soaring prices have ignited a gold rush 2.0, they've also forced many jewelers to pivot, helping customers achieve the gold look without spending a fortune.
- Bye.Gones.NYC features vintage and upcycled jewelry.
- Trash Lobster offers gold plating of silver jewelry to give the appearance of gold for less.
- Code Name Orange Juice clones vintage designs and recreates them using recycled gold.
- Spur Jewelry refashions heirloom jewelry to create new, custom designs.
So, thankfully you can enjoy the new gold rush — with or without a floppy hat.
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