Hello! My name is Ashley, and I make handmade jewelry.
I know what you’re thinking right now. “I know five different people who make handmade jewelry, Ashley. What makes you so unique and different from them? And why should I buy from you?” Well, I’m glad you asked, so let’s get to it.
I started Fifth Essence Jewelry because I like making jewelry and a lot of people told me I was good at it. While this humble start may not be unique I’d like to think that how I incorporate my different materials together makes me stand out. When you buy a piece of jewelry I make, I want you to know that it’s something I like, would want to wear myself, and may have even thought about keeping for myself!
Essentially, I’m a human that is committed to creating a beautiful, high quality accessory that I want you to love wearing, and that brings a smile to your face. I’m different because I source high-quality materials. The gemstones I use are what I say they are, not dyed glass. I stand behind my work, so if you ever need to exchange something or get it fixed, I will absolutely do that for you. Know that I created Fifth Essence Jewelry because I like making jewelry. It is my stress relief, and on those (rare) hard days I often find myself in my studio working with my hands. Fifth Essence Jewelry is a passion project and one I intentionally keep fun, creative, and expressive of my different moods and artistic whims.
I’m glad you’re here and I hope you’ve found an accessory that speaks to you.
About Fifth Essence Jewelry
The mission and goal for Fifth Essence Jewelry is to create unique handmade jewelry crafted for professional women. Using stringing, wireworking and metalsmithing techniques and incorporating gemstones, silver and beads, I create one-of-a-kind handmade jewelry.
My jewelry is intended to finish an outfit. I design with versatility in mind. My accessories can work perfectly for an office environment, or a more relaxed afternoon out with friend. No matter how you wear the jewelry I create, my ultimate goal is to make you, the wearer, feel beautiful.
I’ve found that nature is what inspires my designs the most with the different seasons determining the colors, metals, and materials I will create with. For this reason the time of year will truly dictate what you’ll find on my website or in my booth. Because supplies are purchased in small quantities, the result is small unique jewelry collections that have a limited number of designs in each.
Where did the name come from?
Fifth Essence Jewelry was born of a quote from Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet. Specifically “What is this quintessence of dust.”
Quintessence is the essence of something in it’s purest form. I love that word, and for many years I was convinced this would be my business name. Until I realized that another business already claimed this business name (darn it!).
So I had to regroup and decided to look into the meaning of quintessence. I went back to the Latin roots of this word with “Quintia Essentia” which literally translates to Fifth Essence. Thus, I derived my business name from the word I was in love with (pretty nerdy, right?).
Fifth Essence has two definitions in the dictionary that I really think embody my jewelry and my goal for all my accessories.
1) The fifth and highest element in ancient and medieval philosophies that permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies
2) The root of quintessence, the essence of something in its purest and most concentrated form
About the Artist, Ashley
So now that you know about jewelry, Ashley, let me share a bit more about me. By day, I’m a financial professional who works with numbers (see why making jewelry is my creative outlet?). I’m a proudly Jewish Colorado girl who enjoys cooking, running with my dog Athena, drinking craft beer with my husband, hiking, playing corn hole and reading with my cat Livia.
