Nick von K celebrates 15 years of his jewellery brand in Auckland.
Nick Klarwill works in the future, and sitting inside his workshop, up a spiral staircase at the end of a little arcade on Karangahape Rd, he’s struggling to think about the past.
“These are the kinds of
Better known as Nick von K - the K coming from his last name, von an inspiration from his aristocratic grandfather - the Auckland jeweller is celebrating 15 years of his eponymous brand that has famously been worn by stars like Lady Gaga and Taika Waititi (“he was like a kid in a candy store”), but also strangers he passes in the street here in Aotearoa.
Though perhaps the customer he’s most excited about, is the one wearing his next collection, the one he hasn’t even thought of yet.
“I kind of love not knowing [what’s coming next]. I used to get really scared doing a collection, because I’d think, ‘oh I have to do another one [after this]. Am I going to have any ideas?’”
Sometimes, he was convinced he was running out of inspiration, but over the years, he’s become comfortable “being on the edge of evolution”.
“[The designs] are not here yet, so you are trying to pluck things from the future and bring them into the present and see if people like them or not,” Nick says.
“It’s hard and I think most of the time, I probably fail. But every now and then, I like to think, ‘yes, I can do [that]’.”
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Nick has been designing and creating jewellery since he paid $20 for a soldering iron when he was 19.
Year later, he was designing for fashion brand Ricochet when it was sold in 2010. That was the push to plough $40,000 in savings into his own designs, ones that started as big, bold “kooky and weird” pieces, which now sit alongside delicate gold rings, precious gems and a range that incorporates pounamu in ways customers might not have seen before.
“You feel different, and want to express yourself in that way? Well that’s what I’m providing. I don’t want to do anything I already see out there, I want to do something different to that,” he says.
“It might be a really stupid business model - but obviously it’s worked.”
Nick likes to push buttons and surprise people. It was a lesson he learnt early, as an 11-year-old in the 90s, leaving his “normal, middle-class” family on the North Shore, to shop for rock & roll rings on Queen St, inspired by his idols in Guns N’ Roses.
“Absolutely [I got stick from people for wearing jewellery]. But I probably kind of liked it.
“I like being different. It’s like a core desire, a basic, fundamental truth… It’s not easy, but it’s a way of feeling authentically comfortable. If you are standing out, people are always going to be looking at you sideways.”
Today, his nails are painted in reflective chrome to match the studs on his Dr. Marten boots and it’s impossible to see a patch of bare skin on his fingers and ears, which are crammed with his own distinctive pieces. His current favourite? An unreleased ring, with a cubic zirconia held in place by five tiny hands pulling the finger.
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So how does a self-described rebel sustain a successful business for 15 years in a world where the prevailing narrative suggests that should be nearly impossible?
Despite claiming he’s not very good at playing nice with others, Nick credits business mentor Toss Grumley with helping not only sustain his work, but also grow it in the shadow of Covid and the cost of living crisis. The pair have been working together for almost 10 years.
“He understood my business immediately… It’s been these tactical steps with a real business mind, which I’m not. I’m a creative,” Nick says.
“I don’t know how people do it by themselves.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Nick pinpoints Covid as a time of growth for the brand.
“When the lockdown happened, I thought this is all over and we’re going to have to shut, maybe. But Toss said it was the opposite: this is when things are going to get really, really good because the world is going to start online shopping. And he was so right.”
The business transformed from selling to wholesalers to focusing directly on their customers. Nick says that decision changed everything.
“We made so much more money, I could employ more people and we could start to become more of a sustainable business.”
Now, Nick has two fulltime staff, and three part-timers, which he says allows them to do so much more than he imagined - “and actually be a real brand”.
That has meant expanding into fine jewellery, including one-off pieces, precious metals and engagement rings. It’s a different proposition - and customer - in 2025 than in 2010, but Nick continues to approach every piece with a unique point of view.
“I should feel stressed trying to come up with this perfect ring for the person, but I really don’t - I know I’m going to find something amazing and I’m going to make you really happy because it’s not that hard to be better than a 1 carat diamond ring, which is so boring.
“To be honest, jewellery doesn’t feel that important to the world - but that [moment] feels important.”
They say success breeds success, but it can also breed ego and entitlement. But Nick is different. If anything, he says, the pig-headedness of youth that helped him start the company has waned the more entrenched he’s become in the local scene.
“Before I had much success, I was weirdly in love with my own idea of myself, my talent and potential. And the more success I’ve had, the more I’ve been aware of all the other amazing people in the world and how I should be really humble.
“Would I have started the company if I didn’t have that? I don’t know. It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
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