Founder · Erick Akonor
Self taught.
Ghana made.
World ready.
A jewellery practice formed through return, resilience and the decision to produce finished luxury in Ghana.
The return
Ghana changed the direction.
Erick Akonor is British-Ghanaian, with an academic background spanning economics, sociology and finance. After working in the supply chain franchise for Virginia Black Whiskey, he returned to reconnect with Ghanaian roots.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly grounded him in Ghana. That time became a close encounter with the country’s material wealth, gold history and capacity to turn local resources into finished cultural objects.
Learning the craft
Design language became jewellery language.
Erick is self-taught. Early experience with graphic design and Photoshop gave him a visual foundation, while persistence, experimentation and a journey to Brooklyn in pursuit of grillz knowledge pushed the practice forward.
Digital design developed into CAD. CAD connected to casting, setting, bench work and polishing. The result is jewellery that is CAD-designed and hand-finished, not separated into anonymous production stages.
The proposition
No middlemen.
Just straight art.
Ghana is one of Africa’s major gold producers. Erick Kraftsman’s ambition is to keep more of the thinking, skill and finished value close to the source, creating jewellery in Accra that can stand anywhere in the world.
The work modernises Gold Coast jewellery heritage without flattening it into decoration. Culture is expressed through subject, material, identity and story.