At seventeen I made a choice: two bags, a bike, and no return. I ran toward a life I didn’t fully see yet, but I knew it had to be built on my own terms. That moment has defined me ever since — independence, risk, and the relentless pursuit of something greater.

I am a Southern California–based designer and jeweler. Standard Assay is the product of everything I’ve touched and learned — a vision built from the ground up. For years I studied the jewelry industry relentlessly, walking into shop after shop, learning the craft, the language, the weight of materials, the way pieces are built and sold. Out of that immersion came conviction: to build my own standard. I kept learning. I created the logo, built the website, curated the collection, secured manufacturing, and directed the first shoot. Nothing here is outsourced. Nothing here is inherited. It is my hands and my eye on every detail.

Before Standard Assay, I built a business in real estate. It taught me discipline, persistence, and how to execute. Every win and mistake bringing clarity. Although my true passion has always been design — to create and shape culture. Real estate was foundation; jewelry is expression. Real materials: 14k, 18k, and 24k gold, natural diamonds, gemstones shaped in the earth. No veneers. No shortcuts. Pieces with permanence, made to be passed down.

Since I was young, I’ve lived inside the culture — the shops, the clubs, the rooms where energy turned into movement. I studied the designers who built not just products, but worlds. Their work became my education, their standard my benchmark. As we progress we will measure ourselves against that lineage — to honor what came before and to offer something worthy of standing beside it. This is only the seed.

I believe God has led me here. Standard Assay is not about excess, but about clarity. About authenticity in a culture of disposability. About building something true, and I didn’t get here alone. I owe thanks to my wife, to my son who reminds me daily of what matters, to my family, friends, church, clients, and everyone who gave me a chance. Standard Assay isn’t just mine — it’s built on all of you.

This is the beginning. The first collection is my best effort — my story in gold, in weight, in permanence. It is only the start of what’s to come. This first step had to be my own. I look forward to those who will join me on this journey — until the race is finished.

Isaac Gardner