Alp Sagnak is a New York City fine jewelry designer and goldsmith whose bold, sculptural, and story-driven jewelry explores identity, ego, time, language, and the hidden self.
"Let me tell you a story…
That’s what I do, every day. It is said that after someone spends 10,000 hours on any topic, they would be considered a master. Writing stories with precious metals is how I spent my 10,000 plus hours. It has helped me meet many inspiring people on different continents, mainly in Europe and the USA.
We listened to each other, continuously exchanging the cycle of give and receive. It served as a natural filter, the topics we chose to embrace. In time, friends started to call me the Goldsmith of Words, which is a title I fell in love with and decided to use it in my logo, for my own ego, and for the people that got to know me through my art.
Ego became the center of my work and I spent most of my time on the layers of it. My early works of ego would be described as naïve and wild. The gold represented the naïve and the dark silver was the wild side. After a while, I realized I should tap into the concept with another phrase, “Embrace your shadow or it will kill you.” There came a point where that expression felt too rigid and pointy to me. I tamed it a little and started exploring the deeper levels of my artistic understanding. I would dream of angels, devils, sub atomic particles, and skulls then imagine how I would forge them, trying to describe emotions, conflicts, or both. I would create dangerous animals and poisonous flowers of the world to incorporate into my art.
The more I learned about myself and developed my artistic style, the more people were intrigued. As I mentioned, it started to form a very natural filter that would draw people who are on the same page in their life as me. We grew day by day, some became more successful, and some lost their business. My jewelry transformed with the ebb and flow of my journey and experiences with the souls that danced in and out of my life. Jewelry was the media that allowed us to meet.
My jewelry continues to evolve with my life’s story, passion drives me and a need to express my words through forged metal and precious stones. I hope you are intrigued.
Welcome to our world!"
Alp Sagnak
From Turkiye to NY
Born in Türkiye on March 14, 1977—Pi Day—Sagnak has always been drawn to numbers. He studied industrial engineering, a background that continues to influence the structural and problem-solving aspects of his designs. His fascination with jewelry began much earlier, after reading a book with his older brother, Sarp, that followed a diamond from the mine to the moment it was purchased for a marriage proposal.
Jewelry was also the family business. Sagnak’s father had founded Minyon, a respected local jewelry company in Türkiye. Alp began helping in the store as a child and, by high school, was selling important pieces to customers. He eventually became a business partner and helped expand the company internationally through jewelry trade shows in New York, Europe, and Dubai.
His first experience exhibiting in the United States came at JA New York in 2003. Encouraged by the response of American buyers, Sagnak continued building relationships in the market and opened Atelier Minyon at 155 Spring Street in SoHo on December 8, 2008.
The window that changed everything
The timing could hardly have been more difficult. The American financial crisis deepened soon after the store opened, leaving the new business with high rent and little foot traffic. Sagnak placed a jeweler’s bench in the front window so he could use the quiet hours to make jewelry while attracting the attention of people passing by.
That decision changed the direction of his career.
People stopped to watch him work. They came inside, asked questions, and responded to the pieces he was making. Their encouragement gave him the confidence to move away from the familiar language of established jewelry houses and search for his own artistic vocabulary.
As Sagnak puts it:
“People in SoHo gave me the courage to find myself.”
Finding his own Voice
After dissolving the earlier partnership in 2013, Sagnak entered a period of creative and professional transition. Atelier Minyon closed, and in 2016 he formally established the independent Alp Sagnak brand in New York.
His jewelry became increasingly autobiographical. Sagnak describes his collections as a diary of his life—records of his interests, conflicts, relationships, and attempts to understand himself. His work explores ego, identity, time, language, promises, masks, and the hidden aspects of personality.
The collection closest to him is Kings Fool, created during the transition to his independent identity. Inspired by famous jesters and jesteresses, its partial theatrical faces suggest masks and multiple layers of personality. The collection anticipates themes that continue throughout his work: performance, alter egos, and the difference between what people reveal and what they conceal.
Skulls are another recurring part of Sagnak’s design language. His initial attraction came through motorcycle and rock-and-roll culture, but the skull gradually became something more personal—an alter ego and a representation of the ego itself. He challenges the idea that a skull signifies only death: every living person carries one beneath the face the world sees.
LIGHT SHADOW and TheWORD
Light and shadow also play an important role in his jewelry. In TheWORD, Sagnak concealed two symbols within a cube-like ring. Under a light source, the piece casts the shadow of an eternity sign, while a rim of diamonds forms a heart. The ring represents giving one’s word to another person—turning a promise into a physical object whose hidden meaning is revealed by light.
The design reflects Sagnak’s personal motto:
“Embrace your shadow or it will kill you.”
Other major bodies of work include TheATOM, ThePORTAL, TheFORGE, TheCLAW, SPINES & BONES, SKULLS, TheANIMAL MEDICINE, MAN VS WOMAN, and PITCHBLACK. Together, the collections combine engineering, symbolism, storytelling, and traditional goldsmithing with an instinct for jewelry that feels unmistakably different.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Sagnak’s work has received jewelry-industry recognition, including Couture Design Awards honors and finalist recognition in the INSTORE Design Awards. His designs have appeared in books, fashion and trade publications, and television productions, and have been acquired by prominent performers and public figures directly or through stylists and costume departments.
In the early years of his career, Sagnak wanted to prove that he could make jewelry complicated enough to compete with anyone. Today, he believes the greatest challenge is simplicity: expressing the most meaning with the fewest possible elements.
His ambition remains unapologetically large. He wants Alp Sagnak to be considered among the world’s finest jewelry designers—and he wants the body of work he has created to become a legacy from which his children can benefit.
