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Portrait of Ronaldo Braga at the bench

About me

It began with a rough stone, a cutting wheel, and a twelve-year-old who couldn’t look away.

I was twelve when I cut my first gem in Brazil. I remember the hum of the wheel, the water, and the moment a dull, rough stone turned toward the light and answered back. I have been chasing that moment ever since.

By fifteen I was buying jewelry, lifting out the imitation stones and setting genuine gems in their place. Then I sold those pieces, one by one. Each went back into the world a little more honest than it came in, and I learned early that a real stone changes everything about a piece.

At twenty-one I came to America to cut gems in California. The work, and the stones, led me east to New York’s Diamond District, where I found my place on West 47th Street.

Over the years my hands learned the rest of the craft too: carving wax, vulcanizing molds, injecting and casting, so that a piece can be made from the mold up.

Jewelry has been my whole life, and I still feel the same quiet thrill every time I create something new. When you sit down with me, that is what I want to share: a piece made slowly, by hand, with a stone that tells the truth.

The name on the door belongs to my granddaughter, Hazel. It reminds me every day who all of this is for.

Ronaldo Braga

A life in stones

  1. 12years old

    Brazil

    Cut my first gem.

  2. 15years old

    Brazil

    Set genuine gems where imitations had been.

  3. 21years old

    California

    Came to America to cut gems.

  4. Today

    New York

    The Diamond District, West 47th Street.

From wax to finished piece

Every piece passes through my hands from the first sketch to the final polish. This is the path it takes.

  1. Design

    We sketch it together, down to how the stone should sit.

  2. Model

    A master model is carved, true to every curve.

  3. Mold

    The model is vulcanized into a rubber mold that holds every detail.

  4. Wax

    Molten wax is injected into the mold, a perfect twin of the piece.

  5. Cast

    The wax is invested in plaster and burned away, and gold or platinum takes its place.

  6. Cut and set

    Stones are chosen and cut with a cutter’s eye, then set to catch the light.

  7. Finish

    Polished by hand until it is ready to be worn for a lifetime.

Diamond District, New York

Book a private appointment

Sit down with Ronaldo, see pieces in person, or start a custom design. Appointments in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

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