2 0 1 7 • S T U F F 13
Luxury Manufacturing
Leominster jewelry maker uses ancient designs
and materials to achieve global dominance
P H O T O / N A T H A N F I S K E
By Sarah Connell
C
hris Ploof Designs does more
than just manufacture jewelry;
the company and its workers
craft Symbols of Love using
Damascus steel, a four-billion year old
meteorite, and the ancient Japanese
technique of mokume gane.
Ploof offers three distinct lines – Damascus rings,
meteorite rings and mokume gane rings – to
customers all over the world.
Unique meteorite rings
Each of Ploof 's meteorite rings begins in
Namibia where the 4.5-billion-year-old Gibeon
Meteorite was discovered in the desert in 1838.
The meteor's epic trip through space allowed for a
slow cooling process that produced a unique crys-
talline pattern. The meteorite suffered deep frac-
tures during its travels and sat exposed to the ele-
ments for thousands of years. As a result, Ploof
Designs is forced to reject more than one out of
Continued on page 14
Employees at Chris Ploof Design make jewelry
retailing for several thousand dollars.
Chris Ploof Mokume
Gane Red Gold And
Meteorite Ring
Materials: Meteorite, 14k
red gold
Price: $6,000 (Greenwich
Street Jewelers, NYC)
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