Awe Inspired Decides It’s Time to Invest in Gold

By Karen Dybis | July 10, 2025

Fashion jewelry brand Awe Inspired is going gold.

Eternal Awe, its first collection of 14k gold and natural gemstone jewelry, debuted this week, with necklaces, pendants, and earrings (priced from $600 to $2,500) centering on Awe Inspired’s well-known amulet and goddess motifs.

“Gold has long been used to honor the divine, whether in the crowns of queens, the coins of empires, or the likenesses of goddesses. With Eternal Awe, we wanted a name that spoke to that timelessness while anchoring it in our brand’s DNA,” says Max Johnson, cofounder of the L.A.-based company.

“Awe is a lens into the past, present, and future of how jewelry gives meaning to human experience,” Johnson says. “This collection captures that continuum. It’s not just about adornment—it’s about legacy, reverence, and the desire to create something that outlives us.”

Awe Inspired key — *Awe Inspired’s Emerald Key amulet in 14k yellow gold with 0.04 ct. t.w. emerald and 0.2 ct. t.w. diamonds, $975*

Johnson and his mom, Jill, started Awe Inspired in 2018. A career jeweler, Jill had survived cancer for a third time and designed a “goddess” necklace as a tribute to her fellow cancer survivors. Max saw how powerful a symbol that could be in jewelry, honoring strength and resilience.

The brand focused on cultivating a deeply engaged customer base in its first years, Johnson says, through goddess quizzes, storytelling, and fundraising for charitable causes. Those loyal clients are the ones who started asking for solid gold jewelry pieces.

“Many expressed a desire to upgrade, whether to mark a life milestone or to make a lifelong commitment to their chosen goddess,” says Max. “We felt it was time to meet that emotional commitment with pieces worthy of heirloom status.”

Awe Inspired has invested in its craftsmanship, Johnson says. The jewelers on Awe Inspired’s design and manufacturing team have more than a century’s worth of experience combined, and they use natural diamonds, emeralds, and rubies in Eternal Awe to make these pieces deluxe.

Awe Inspired sword — *From Eternal Awe: Ruby Sword necklace in 14k yellow gold with 0.22 ct. ruby and 0.02 ct. diamond, $1,800–$1,850*

“This launch wasn’t a leap. It was a natural next step, made possible by the trust we’ve been earning and the craftsmanship we’ve refined,” Johnson says. “This wasn’t about optimizing for margin. We wanted the weight to feel luxurious, the reliefs as detailed as ever.”

With the soaring price of gold making 14k pieces more expensive for the everyday jewelry-wearer, Awe Inspired will continue to offer its fashion jewelry—which mostly use gold vermeil and sterling silver, so it is accessible to a greater number of consumers.

“We still believe that’s the future of fine jewelry for most people,” Johnson says. “That said, this collection is about demonstrating what we’re capable of at the highest level—technically, spiritually, and symbolically.”

Johnson says Eternal Awe will grow as a collection with a holiday capsule to follow later in 2025. In 2026, the brand will release two seasonal fine jewelry collections, including lockets and tennis styles in 14k gold and natural gemstones.

“We’ve had so many customers ask us for custom goddess figures over the years, I’d love to make that happen someday as well,” Johnson says.

Top: The 14k gold Medusa necklace with emerald eyes and paper-clip chain, $2,600–$2,700, from Awe Inspired’s new Eternal Awe collection (photos courtesy of Awe Inspired)