About Booth Custom
Brian and Lily Moreno Booth are metalsmith/designers currently collaborating in their Raleigh, North Carolina, studio. Brian has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a concentration in sculpture, metals, illustration, Computer Aided Design (CAD), and “designed objects”. Following his degree studies, Brian immediately began his career in the precious metals manufacturing industry as an employee for Casting House in their home office in Chicago. There he learned and applied a wide range of skills to produce multiples in silver, gold, platinum, and palladium. As a production specialist at Casting House, Brian trained to open a new branch office in San Francisco. While operating the new office as Director of West Coast Operations, Brian grew the business in nine months by two additional employees. In the process, Brian met an extremely selfless and talented group of San Francisco jewelers and designers, including his wife Lily. At a pivotal point in his career, with a strong command of the manufacturing process, Brian explored the trade of jewelry fabrication and repair through a tightly knit group of customers and mentors. Prominent jewelers in the Bay Area, most importantly C. S.Cho, a Master Goldsmith, shared their skill sets in the jewelry industry with Brian. When Janet Alix, owner of Alix and Company (http://www.alixandcompany.com/) , had an opening for a goldsmith, she willingly employed Brian on a trial basis, encouraging him to try new techniques in a wide range of high-end custom projects, calling upon his precision and sculptural background. Since he moved to North Carolina, Brian and Janet continue to collaborate on a variety of projects. Through great mentors, like Cho and Janet, Brian has moved well past what would be expected of him as a professional metalsmith at this time in his life.
Originally from San Francisco, Lily Moreno Booth received her BA degree in Liberal Studies, with a concentration in Art History and Fine Art, from the University of California, Riverside in Southern California. After exploration in a home studio, she decided to return to San Francisco to pursue her professional jewelry education at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts (http://www.revereacademy.com/). While at the Revere Academy, Lily was embraced by a community of master craftsmen and craftswomen, and worked diligently to develop a palette of techniques for a future career. Ancient techniques such as granulation and enameling sparked a creative streak in Lily that would lead her to start a studio in the same building as the Revere Academy. There, she also worked for Otto Frei, a jewelry tools and supply company, where she gained the friendship of the same prominent jewelers Brian would meet later as a manufacturer. While at Otto Frei, Lily was recruited by a fellow Revere graduate and a current employee, Derek Duncan, to work for Casting House. At Casting House, she raised the standard of the local trade in the areas of laser welding, mold making, and customer service. It was essential that local businesses bring their most difficult repairs to Lily, a service provided with care, professionalism, and respect for the customer’s special requests. Lily and Brian have grown together in their skill sets, exploring the balance between form, color, texture, and function. In their studio, Lily regularly fuses glass to the surface of metal in a process known as enameling. Lily’s most recent focus, since moving her studio to North Carolina, has been to create an affordable and contemporary line of jewelry in enamel and metal for Etsy.com. Her progress and current works for sale may be found at www.shopluella.etsy.com.
Here are the services currently provided to custom clients and designers aspiring to develop a new masterpiece or line of unique and high quality jewelry:
Custom Jewelry Fabrication in Recycled Gold, Platinum, & Palladium
Diamond Setting
Prototype & Master Creation
CAD Modeling
Production Strategy
Mold Making
Hand Illustration
Here is our current business card:
