Rings with Attitude
At Together Journal, we have always championed emerging brands that are doing things differently. The ones willing to question tradition, shift perspective, and quietly reshape their category. We first met Guy Thompson when he and his wife, Westney, appeared on the cover of Together Journal Issue 22, their vibrant Coromandel wedding shot by Sapphire Studios. Since then, we have followed his non-conventional jewellery journey with interest.
Founded in 2020, Guys Gold began with a simple frustration. Guy could not find a wedding ring that felt aligned with his own edgy but refined aesthetic. Rather than compromise, he created his own. What has followed is an independent New Zealand brand that is steadily redefining what modern men’s and women’s wedding jewellery can look and feel like.
Each piece is handcrafted to order, often using New Zealand alluvial or recycled gold, with a focus on clean lines, considered weight and enduring quality. There is restraint, but never blandness. Confidence, without excess. And then there is the edge. Motorcycle-led pop-ups. A briefcase of gold. A maker-led approach that resists convention.
We have always admired those who challenge the status quo. Guys Gold does exactly that.
You founded Guys Gold because you could not find a ring that reflected your own style. What exactly was missing from the market at the time?
In my opinion the market wasn’t putting as much effort into the men’s rings as they were the women’s. But guys these days care a lot more than they did in the past. I wanted a heavy ring that would last generations and be as cool then as it is now. In hindsight it’s weird I cared so much about it – but it’s now my full time job, so I’m glad I did.
Your work feels minimalist but never boring. How do you approach proportion, weight and finish to achieve that refined balance?
As I’ve gotten into more women’s jewellery over the years I’ve tried to bring over the same design style that I started with when making the mens rings. I try to avoid little decorative features on engagement rings and just do the basics really well, solid bands, solid stones – no hidden halos, lol.
How do fluctuations in gold prices and sourcing considerations influence your design process and pricing?
The gold price has stitched me up over the past year. For a business built on weight, my prices have had to rise in line with the gold market which means a lot more 9ct rings are being ordered when they would have probably been 18ct back in the day. Going forward that may look like some more refined designs so 18ct is still an affordable option for those who prefer it.
Your pop-ups have become something of a signature, arriving on a motorcycle with a briefcase of jewels. Why take jewellery out of the showroom and into these unexpected spaces, and are there more planned?
The pop ups have been a great way to let people into the brand and bridge the gap to being an ‘online store’. I haven’t got the next one locked in yet but I’ll be looking to do one in Australia later this year – Melbourne and Sydney have been my biggest markets after Auckland in 2026.
You have an innate sense of style and a background steeped in aesthetics. How does the language of fashion influence the way you design wedding rings?
Haha thanks! Making something that’s cool right now while keeping longevity in mind is the juggle. I think long and hard before I buy anything, a lot of my customers would probably be the same. The value of a product is often revealed years later – I’d like to think all of my past customers look back on their purchase and think ‘that wasn’t cheap but it was worth every dollar’.
Which traditions within wedding jewellery are you most interested in challenging or rewriting?
My rings do a good job of challenging the set gender styles. Making feminine rings for the boys and masculine rings for the girls. All of the diamond signets do this perfectly.
One expensive idea I’ve been thinking about recently is maybe people could have multiple wedding or engagement rings and wear what they’re feeling at that time like they do with their clothes. Every 5 or 10 years add something to the collection. I’ve been married 5 years, my wife has two engagement rings and isn’t far off a third and I’ve just made the below new wedding ring for myself, a bit more out the gate than my original Rectangle Signet.
As you expand more into engagement rings, how do you maintain your distinctly modern point of view in a category so often defined by convention?
I like to think of my engagement rings as simple, design-led, and beautiful. I just won’t do ugly jobs: 1. To protect the brand’s reputation and 2. Because I’m on the girls team and dudes come to me with these wild ideas that I’m 99% certain they would like. My heart goes out to the girls whose boyfriends ‘found someone who could do it cheaper’.
When a new design begins to form, what is the first spark? A material, a memory, the New Zealand landscape, architecture, emotion?
For me it’s conversations. A lot of my product development is done with the customer, we start with a design I’ve already got and then we’re changing little things to make it more personal to them.
The ring below was recently completed for a customer who wanted the band to resemble ‘holding hands’ in memory of her grandparents. I’m always keen to work on new and interesting designs with customers.
Guys Gold feels emblematic of a new era in wedding jewellery. One where individuality holds equal weight to tradition, and where material integrity matters as much as sentiment. By focusing on craftsmanship, proportion and the honest beauty of solid gold, Guy Thompson has created pieces designed not just for a moment, but for decades of wear.
There is an independence to the brand that resonates deeply with us. Unfunded, maker-led and instinct-driven, it evolves on its own terms. In challenging convention, Guys Gold does not reject tradition outright. Instead, it refines it. Strips it back. Rebuilds it with intention. In doing so, it offers a compelling vision of modern commitment, forged in gold and shaped by character.
ABOVE Guy Thompson from Guys Gold
For more information visit guysgold.com and @guys.gold
