Hand Forged in the USA... A Day in the Kenda Kist Studio

We know there is a lot of jewelry to choose from that claims to be handmade, but we are the real deal. All of our pieces are made from Sterling Silver and 14k Gold Filled. Marty Markel and I both studied and graduated from the Metal Design program at East Carolina University and have continued our craft in building the Kenda Kist line.  

Every piece of our jewelry is hand made and hand forged right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. We are a small business that depends on specialty boutiques across the country. A husband and wife team, we have built Kenda Kist Jewelry from the ground up. We have a small but mighty team which consists of Shannon who is our production assistant who has been with us for over 5 years while behind the scenes, and Christina handles all of our graphic design and website needs.  

We pride ourselves on consistency, cohesiveness, and craftsmanship. Kenda Kist Jewelry is a delicately timeless statement that will last you a life time. 

Below are some pictures captured by Joesph Whichard from our studio.

Texturing Metal  

At the Bench Soldering and Sawing

Hand Stamping

Tumbling The Jewelry

Hand forging components

Using his microscope Marty can see fine details needed for custom pieces.  

Soldering Components

We hope you've enjoyed a look into our daily work space and as always, we hope you love your Kenda Kist Jewelry as much as we enjoy making it for you! We are so grateful for our customers near and far!  xkk