The Paloma pendant in eighteen karat gold: a square-cut emerald suspended on its point inside an open hexagonal frame, hung from a fine chain.
Paloma pendant 18k gold, emerald

OXUS Fine jewelry by Maryam Najvan

Shaped like folded paper. Made in 18 karat gold.

One of one jewelry, made just for you. Maryam is an artist whose work is shown in galleries. She designs your piece with you. It is made in Downtown Los Angeles.

You do not choose from a catalog here. Every piece starts with a talk, and then a drawing.

01 The artist

An artist first.

Maryam Najvan wraps brass and gold wire around carved white stone. She folds paper into shapes. She paints with ink in one stroke. She takes photos of the shadows of her hands.

She makes OXUS jewelry with the same hands and the same care.

  • Sculpture
  • Folded paper
  • Ink painting
  • Charcoal drawing
  • Photography
  • Jewelry
Shown at
Duets, Gallery 825, 2025
The River
Signed sculptures you can wear, each one of one. Shown by MB Abram.
Member
Los Angeles Art Association
See more of her art
Folded paper
A grid of photographs of the shadows of a hand, each gesture a little different, closing on the words until it disappears.
Photos of hand shadows
Gold wire wound by hand into a loose cube that holds a smooth carved white stone.
Gold wire around carved stone
Her hand lays gold leaf onto a small disc on the workbench, the leaf catching the light.
Gold leaf, placed by hand

Sculpture first. Then gold.

02 From sculpture to jewelry

Her art, in gold.

Her own style is folded shapes in gold. Each piece started as art she made by hand, in wire, paper or metal ribbon. Look at them side by side. You can see how one became the other.

  1. Gold wire bent into an open hexagonal cage that rests over a carved white stone.
    Wire around stone
    The Paloma pendant photographed on a pale table: a square emerald held on its point inside an open gold hexagon.
    i

    Paloma pendant

    18k gold square emerald

    An open gold hexagon holds the emerald.

  2. Two small squares of painted paper, folded into points, black and orange, laid on a pale mount.
    Two folds of painted paper
    The Paloma studs: square emeralds, each framed by gold folded into a four-pointed star.
    ii

    Paloma studs

    Solid gold square emeralds

    Gold folded into a star around each stone.

  3. A single sheet of paper, folded once and standing on its edges, its planes caught in black and white light.
    One sheet of paper, folded
    A heart pendant built from flat, angled planes of fourteen karat gold, a sapphire set at its center.
    iii

    Heart pendant

    14k gold sapphire also in white gold

    A heart made of flat sides, like folded paper.

  4. Paper flowers on wire
    The Violet Starburst: a flower pendant of amethyst petals around a small diamond, on a gold chain with two triangular stations.
    iv

    Violet Starburst

    Gold amethyst diamond

    Amethyst petals around a diamond. Small gold triangles sit on the chain.

  5. A ribbon of gold-toned metal wrapped around itself into an open vessel, casting a long shadow across a green ground.
    A gold-colored ribbon, wrapped around itself
    The Embrace ring: bands of yellow gold that cross and curl to hold an oval tanzanite.
    v

    Embrace ring

    Gold tanzanite

    Gold bands wrap around the stone.

The Violet Starburst lying among sprigs of yellow mimosa and eucalyptus leaves.
Violet Starburst, with yellow mimosa
The Violet Starburst worn at the base of the throat, the chain resting along the collarbones.
The Violet Starburst, worn
The heart pendant in white gold on a fine yellow gold chain.
Heart pendant, white gold

03 Two styles

One designer, two styles.

Soft, natural shapes: gold leaf with turquoise, green aventurine on wire, a bangle with spikes. And clean, exact fine jewelry with diamonds and emeralds. She designs both.

Natural

Hand-formed gold leaf pendants, each crumpled petal holding a cluster of small turquoise beads.
Gold leaf, turquoise
Spiked bangle
A cascade of green aventurine drops strung on fine gold wire, falling from a curved collar.
Green aventurine on wire

Precise

A bridal set in white metal: a round diamond solitaire above a band of channel-set stones.
Bridal set, diamond
A round emerald set within concentric rings of pavé diamonds, the pendant seen at an angle.
Emerald inside rings of small diamonds
An open gold cuff with finely ribbed ends, one end set with a single diamond in a star.
Open cuff, gold

04 The studio

She designs every piece.

Maryam studied graphic design and industrial design. She makes a 3D computer model (CAD) of every piece herself. The model shows where each stone goes. Then she directs expert jewelers in the Jewelry District. They make the metal parts and set the stones from her plans. She checks every sample and every finished piece.

One custom wedding ring, start to finish

A pear diamond, two diamond bands.

  1. i The model Her 3D model, every stone in place
  2. Three cast pieces in white metal on linen before any stone is set: the open pear setting, a round frame braced by an eight-pointed star, and a band of empty claws.
    ii The metal No stones yet
  3. Two eternity bands, now set all the way round with emerald-cut diamonds, beside the pear setting still waiting for its stone.
    iii The stones Emerald-cut diamonds, all the way round
  4. The finished ring from the side: the pear diamond held in fine claws above two eternity bands of emerald-cut diamonds.
    iv Finished The diamond ring and its two bands
  5. v In hand
  1. 01

    Draw

    We talk first. Then she draws. Your story guides the design.

  2. 02

    Model

    She makes a 3D model of the piece herself. It shows the size and place of every stone. You see it from every side before anything is made.

  3. 03

    Metal

    An expert in the Jewelry District makes it in gold or platinum, from her drawings. She checks every sample.

  4. 04

    Stones

    An expert setter places each stone, following her stone map.

  5. 05

    Check

    She checks the finished piece before it comes to you.

More of her 3D designs

If you can picture it, she can draw it.

  • A sculpted ring in rose gold: coiling serpent forms that loop over and through one another.

    Snake ring rose gold

  • A wide band in white metal pierced with a Greek key pattern.

    Greek key band

  • A pair of crescent moon earrings, one starred and one polished, each with a diamond and a hanging star.

    Moon and star earrings

  • A ring with an oval blue center stone flanked by two round diamonds on a scrolled white gold gallery.

    Three stone ring blue stone

  • An oval sapphire ringed with diamonds on a pavé rose gold band.

    Sapphire ring with diamonds

  • A platinum bangle worked all over in an openwork lace of tiny set diamonds.

    Lace pattern bangle platinum

  • A pear-shaped green stone in a diamond halo, hanging from a gold chain.

    Emerald pear pendant

  • A marquise diamond rising from a pointed, crown-like band of small diamonds in yellow gold.

    Crown ring, marquise diamond

  • A yellow gold ring with a small sculpted frog perched on top, a diamond set in its back.

    Frog ring

  • A stud earring shaped as a sphere covered in pavé diamonds.

    Diamond ball earring

  • A fine white gold necklace hung with five diamond drops in halos.

    Diamond drop necklace

  • A yellow gold bangle with a quilted, diamond-patterned surface, shown against black.

    Quilted gold bangle

  • A white gold engagement ring with a round diamond, and a matching band of milgrain-edged diamond clusters.

    Wedding set

  • A geometric yellow gold ring whose shank opens into a rectangular frame, a single diamond set at its corner.

    Open frame ring

05 Traditions

For every tradition.

In Los Angeles, families from many cultures give gold for the big moments in life. Tell us about your tradition. She will design a piece that fits its meaning.

Marriage

  • A plain, unbroken ring for a Jewish wedding under the chuppah
  • Jewelry for a Persian wedding, the aghd
  • Indian bridal gold and the mangalsutra
  • Wedding gold for a Chinese ceremony
  • Armenian and Middle Eastern bridal sets

Big moments

  • Bar and bat mitzvah
  • A gold ring for a Korean first birthday, the dol
  • Quinceañera
  • Sweet sixteen
  • Graduation
  • A first grandchild

Faith and symbols

  • Star of David
  • Hamsa
  • Cross
  • Crescent and star
  • Nazar, the evil eye
  • Om

A name, written in its own alphabet

  • فارسیPersian
  • עבריתHebrew
  • ՀայերենArmenian
  • العربيةArabic
  • देवनागरीDevanagari
  • 中文Chinese

Not on this list? Tell us about your tradition.

A pear-shaped diamond, loose and unset, resting on a fold of white paper, waiting for the setting that will be drawn around it.

06 Family stones

Bring your family’s stone.

Maybe it is your grandmother’s stone, brought from Tehran, Beirut, Yerevan or Mumbai. Maryam looks at it with you. She draws a new setting for it. Then it becomes a new piece for the next generation. The stone stays the same. Its story goes on.

  1. i Bring the piece
  2. ii See the drawing
  3. iii Approve the 3D model
  4. iv Wear it again

07 The name

Oxus is the old name of the Amu Darya, a large river in Central Asia. Between 1877 and 1880, people found about 180 gold and silver pieces near the river. They were made in ancient Persia, in the Achaemenid Empire, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. That is about 2,500 years ago.

Today this Oxus Treasure is in the British Museum. It is some of the finest ancient gold work in the world. OXUS is named after it. She carries this gold work forward.

Her palm in ink and watercolor: black fronds thrown in quick strokes, washed through with ochre, green, rose and blue.
Palm, ink and watercolor

Beneath California palms, the Oxus still flows.

Maryam was born in Isfahan, Iran. She moved to Los Angeles in 2017. You can see Persian culture and the palm trees of Los Angeles in all her work, from the first drawing to the finished piece.

08 Custom pieces

Book a private meeting.

Every custom piece starts with a talk. Meet at the studio in the Los Angeles Jewelry District, Downtown Los Angeles, or on Zoom. Tell us a little about what you would like.

We use your details only to set up your meeting.