ONE OF TAOS’ LONGTIME JEWELRY DESIGNERS AND GOLDSMITHS IS EMILY BENOIST RUFFIN.
In her workshop in a back room at her shop at 119 Bent Street, there is a controlled chaos of tools from exotic-headed hammers to ancient bezel blocks. Towering cabinets with small drawers line the walls. Piled up are large loose-leaf binders. But it is here where Ruffin is most comfortable and creative — sitting at her workbench with tools in hand. “I love making jewelry because as I sit quietly, with an entire tiny universe laid out in front of me, time ceases to exist,” she told The Taos News. Ruffin has been constructing jewelry in Taos since 1980. In front of Ruffin’s workshop is the Emily Benoist Ruffin Design & Goldsmiths retail shop. Her work is displayed along with more than a dozen other local and European goldsmiths/art jewelers. Ruffin’s signature piece is the Stripe Ring. Hand-constructed like most all of her work, she calls it “one of my reputation makers.” It exemplifies the designedly, made-fromscratch and laborious process that has ropelled Ruffin to the forefront of the national and international hand-constructed jewelry-making scene. “For me, jewelry design is a combination of art and science,” she said. “I was always good in math and loved mechanics. It’s a form of small architecture or small sculpture for me.” Ruffin attributes her long-running success to an uncompromising dedication to her art and the legacy of sound design principles and fine European hand craftsmanship that underlie everything she does. “It’s all about perfection and precision,” she said. “For me, it’s miniature engineering.
I see the whole picture first, see what it’s going to look like when it’s done. Then I figure out the parts and build it.” EMILY BENOIST RUFFIN DESIGN & GOLDSMITHS IS LOCATED AT 119 BENT STREET. CALL (575) 758-1061 FOR HOURS OR VISIT EMILYRUFFIN.COM.