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Michael Baksa

Baksa jewelry is designed and handmade by Michael Baksa, master goldsmith and designer. Exquisitely natural, often bold, Michael's work reflects his love of nature and an all-in embrace of life. Each piece he creates is  one-of-a kind.

Michael Baksa was born and raised on Cape Cod, a region of spectacular beauty stretching 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Generations of artists , artisans , and individualists of all stripes, have been drawn to the Cape. And no one here wonders why. 

Beginnings

The son of Hungarian immigrants, Michael's independent-minded father returned to the Cape after serving as an army cook on the front lines in Europe during World War II. Lester Baksa worked on the Cape as a chef, carpenter, and restaurant manager. Michael's mother Grace was a professional baker, who also did needlework and dressmaking,


Their enterprising son was a chip off the old block. 

Individualist and Adventurer

Michael was an exuberant child and teenager with a passion for the outdoors. He was known for his keen eye, a gift for gab, and a no-holds-barred embrace of life...  


...and  Michael lost no gusto as he matured.

Early Artistic Achievement

This block print below was selected for the Boston Globe Scholastic and Photography Awards when Michael was 16 years old. These two works give hints of the strong sense of design and color, meticulous craftsmanship, flowing and geometric forms, and fine detail, that were to become the Baksa trademark.

A Prize Apprenticeship

While he was still in high school, Michael was hired as an apprentice to Bernard Kelly, (pictured here), the renowned jewelry maker and teacher of Greenwich Village, NY, and later Cape Cod. Michael learned how to forge and solder gold, set  gemstones, and file and polish finished jewelry pieces. The loquacious young man never missed a chance to engage with customers in the showroom or soak up knowledge from the community of artists who surrounded Kelly- goldsmiths, silversmiths, gem dealers, and jewelry making-students and masters, as well as sculptors and painters. Michael had found his passion.

Passion Begets Passion

At the jewelry bench, Michael's new skills converged in happy harmony with his high spirits, his love of nature, and his desire for a lively social life. Michael borrowed $60 from his sister Amy to purchase his first metals and stones. While the incessant hammering in the basement was not music to the ears of the Baksa family, it yielded treasures for the young ladies at Michael's high school. 


Michael had learned that his passion was a way to ignite the passions of others, and he was on his way.

One of Michael's early pieces.

Passion Becomes Career

Michael married a sculptor and painter fresh from the Art Students League in New York, Laura Jean Sickman, and they began to collaborate. The two young artists explored ways to integrate classical elements, often with tongue solidly planted in cheek.

Life as a Treasure Hunt

All the while, Michael was building partnerships with gem dealers around the world who shared his zeal for earth's hidden treasures. They felt like family to him.


A month-long trip to Thailand yielded Michael a large cache of pearls and fresh new design ideas.

Living Large

Michael's life was a hurricane of activity in simultaneous roles as husband, father, runner, sailor, and scuba diver. And he was living the life he loved... as master goldsmith, noted jewelry maker, and successful jewelry boutique owner.  


Michael collaborated with his second wife, Teresa Welch Baksa, also an artist, to open Baksa Studio, another successful enterprise. It featuered Michael's jewelry and Teresa's "richly jewel-like" paintings.


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Bold New Designs

In the early 2000s, Michael's work continued to evolve in new ways. He devised ways to showcase larger, and more unusual gemstones set with pearl strands. With the shop's success came increasing pressure to mass produce. Michael refused. "Often I purchase gems with no idea at all how I will use them. All I know is that I have to work with them. Sometimes I am totally surprised, myself. A large gemstone that I purchased for a pendant design morphs into a bold ring!"

Still Raising the Bar

Michael now sells  his work only through selected jewelry stores. His success in new markets has opened a floodgate of inspiration. He has expanded his palette of materials to include even larger, more unusual and rare gemstones and pearls. He is using even more gold in his designs and has embellished his signature style with hammer-textured settings that shimmer reflected light all around the gemstones.


Michael continues to pursue the passions of his youth, wholeheartedly, raising the bar each day, inside and outside the studio.