HINGED GOLD GORGET from Kerala, India, of high karat gold and ruby, early 19th Century. Photograph by Robert K. Liu/Ornament

Ornament Magazine

Ornament celebrates a unique art because its context is the human being. We cover jewelry and clothing, from our ancient beginnings to the contemporary era. Our creative energies are drawn from an appreciation that what we make to adorn ourselves is a beautiful and meaningful expression of life.

Our vision is rich in contemporary, ethnographic and ancient history, anthropology, and archaeology. We believe that we can help sustain a healthy and compassionate society when we know more about our own and other cultures. As an international resource for forty-seven years, Ornament encompasses the world.

From the beginning we set ourselves the exciting challenge of documenting the art and craft of personal adornment. Ornament demonstrates the richness and diversity of this vast subject with a stunning display of creative works, past and present.

With informative profiles we support emerging and established artists in jewelry and wearable fiber who create artworks that stimulate, enrich and invigorate us today and are a profound and exquisite legacy for the years ahead.

Knowledge shapes the present and future when we renew our bonds both with the recent past and antiquity, revealing or tracing historical roots and customs, aesthetics, materials, and technical processes. Ornament exists to educate, inform and inspire.

Medium: 
Ornament Magazine
PO BOX 2349 
San Marcos, 
CA 
92079
PEARL-MIST DANCER 2234 PENDANT & KABUKI KACHINA 2309 PENDANT by Marianne Hunter of enamels with twenty-four karat gold, fine silver foils, abalone pearl, diamonds and cultured pearls, 2000 and 2003 respectively. Photograph by Robert K. Liu/OrnamentCLOTHING ARTIST AMY NGUYEN with studio assistant Nikki Fleury working on the placement of nui shibori stitching, 2015. Photograph by Mario AvilaRIBBON RAINBOW NECKLACE by Parrot Pearls, a former San Francisco firm, of low-fired ceramic tubing and satin ribbons, 1979. Photograph by Robert K. Liu/OrnamentKIFFA AND ISLAMIC GLASS BEADS from Mauritania. Kiffas or Muraqad are unique, wet-inlay powderglass beads made by Mauritanian women. The largest bead shown is an Islamic glass bead, a morfia, 2.3 x 1.9 centimeters. Courtesy of Thomas Stricker collection. Photograph by Alex and Thomas Stricker.
Dorado 806 Projects
City, ST
08/13/2025 - 09/06/2025
Smoke The Cat
City, ST
08/28/2025 -
Art Cloth Network
City, ST
08/22/2025 - 08/28/2025
Gallery Gloria
City, ST
04/10/2026 - 06/13/2026

Craft Across America Digital Series