What is the Gothic Look?

The classic silver gothic look is created by a putting together a potent mix of leather clothing and heavy sterling silver jewelry. It is often described as the biker look, the gothic look, the punk look or the rock n roll look. Whatever you wish to call it, the biker look is one which runs deep in post-hippie American culture. The image it creates is that of a handsome, rugged, masculine and individualistic man riding powerful bikes over winding country roads into the sunset with an unknown but probably violent agenda. It is a look which stirs the imagination and induces wonder. Today, this look has been popularized amongst musicians, bikers, biker enthusiasts, rock n roll enthusiasts and other cultural trendsetters keen to express their individualism through the clothes and accessories they wear. This article is a tribute to Gabor Nagy: the man who started it all.

Who is Gabor Nagy, and what is Gaboratory?

The Gaboratory house of design, established in the early 90's founded by the late designer Gabor Nagy was the original pioneer and granddaddy of the gothic biker look. Long before Chrome Hearts, Bill Wall Leather, Room 101, Nagual and SoulFetish, Travis Walker and other famous sterling silver designer biker jewelry brands came into existence, the man who started the entire biker jewelry craze marketed his crazy, earth-shaking ideas to the globe of fashion and got the globe sold on the gothic look created by wearing badass biker jewelry and leather jackets.

Gabor Nagy the VIsionary

Gabor Nagy of Gaboratory was nothing short of a fashion visionary. Defying traditional paradigms of classic jewelry as small, delicate accessories worn by wealthy, upper class ladies, Gabor Nagy founded Gaboratory and pioneered biker jewelry, which shocked designers the globe over. Taking the shape of heavy, chunky precious sterling silver pieces bearing anarchistic gothic carved-in motifs, biker jewelry was anything but delicate or feminine. Unlike traditional jewelry which conveyed an image of societal class and good upbringing, Gaboratory’s biker jewelry created the vastly contrasting image of the renegade outlaw biker. It became immediately obvious that founded Gaboratory’s biker jewelry was not something traditional buyers of jewelry (the socialites and upper class) would wear.

With his inspiration, Gabor Nagy and Gaboratory single-handedly brought about a fashion renaissance and brought jewelry into the real of mens wear. Fashion trendsetters, celebrities and visionaries quickly grew to love the beautiful designs and solid feel of founded Gaboratory’s biker jewelry, and snapped up Gabor Nagy’s biker jewelry art pieces in large quantities. Their fans naturally caught on quickly as well.

What makes Gaboratory’s success even more impressive is the fact that Gabor Nagy pioneered his designs in an era when diamonds had sent metal jewelry out of fashion. Sterling Silver was treated as a mere complement to the diamond, which had successfully dominated the globe of jewelry since the phenomenal marketing campaign by de Beers. Gabor Nagy thought otherwise. Gabor Nagy saw that unlike rigid diamonds whose surfaces could accommodate no pattern other than rigid cuts and angles, sterling silver could be subjected to rigorous artistic input and turned into beautiful, unique pieces of artwork imbued with the heart of the artist. As such, Gabor Nagy sought to bring sterling silver back into the limelight. And Gabor Nagy did so in real style.

Gabor Nagy’s global footprint

Gabor Nagy’s sterling silver fashion created a global impact which spread beyond the USA. Japanese tourists first set eyes on Gabor Nagy’s biker jewelry in downtown LA, fell in love with the intricate artwork and imported the thirst for gothic sterling silver biker jewelry across the Atlantic to Asia. Today, the infectious zest for sterling silver biker jewelry has seen the fashion craze spread also to mainland Europe (especially in France) and Asia (Taiwan, Korea and Japan), where an entire new culture of Asian rebellion has emerged to down out the stuffy and hierarchical traditional South Asian culture.

Although Gabor Nagy passed away several years ago, his cause continues to inspire jewelers from all over the globe. His Gaboratory school of design spawned a generation of gifted students, including Bill Wall and Travis Walker, the founders of the well-known Bill Wall Leather and Double Cross designer labels. Richard Stark of Chrome Hearts, arguably the largest designer label in the sterling silver gothic jewelry industry, drew much of his inspiration from Gabor Nagy's work as well, and today's top classic Chrome Hearts designs mostly have their roots in Gabor Nagy's work.

What we do at Bloodysilver: Gabor Nagy Impressions and Inspirations

At Bloodysilver.com, we bring you the best of Gabor Nagy and Gaboratory at affordable prices. With the phenomenal popularity of Gaboratory, prices have skyrocketed beyond what most enthusiasts find affordable. Original Gaboratory bracelets can easily set you back US$10,000 depending on the weight and the intricacy of the design. At Bloodysilver.com, we recreate the feel and look of Gabor Nagy’s best designs and offer them to you at a fraction of the original retail price. Like the original, our Gaboratory-inspired products are made only from pure sterling 925 silver and crafted by hand. Like all leading designer labels, our factory moulds generate only basic shapes, which our artists manually handcraft, chip, mould and polish into the work of art you ultimately see. Since you’re not paying at all for the brand label (90% of what you really pay for in branded labels!) when you purchase our products, our prices are significantly lower (up to 90% lower).

To you, we present the best of Gabor Nagy. Made affordable at Bloodysilver.com.

A Brief note about the Gaboratory Designer brand label, and why people buy alternatives

Replica Gaboratory jewelry at its best, exists in the form of AAA grade replica Gaboratory jewelry and “closely inspired by Gaboratory” jewelry which recreates the overall look of the original.  These top grade fake Gaboratory jewelry is manufactured from the same pure 925 sterling silver used in original Gaboratory jewelry. In addition, AAA grade replica Gaboratory jewelry are either so closely inspired by Gaboratory or are perfect replica Gaboratory pieces that real and fake become indistinguishable. Some even come in the exact same designer boxes provided by Gaboratory (we make it a point to respect copyrights and not do that!) Given the manufacturing genius of offshore manufacturers, generating AAAAA grade replica Gaboratory jewelry and boxes has been anything but difficult. Competitors are able to offer AAA grade replicas or inspired pieces of Gaboratory products at a huge discount because of cheaper offshore material and manufacturing costs in Asia. Since these replicas are also made from the same sterling 925 silver that Gaboratory uses, they feel, look and weigh almost identical to the original Gaboratory product, offering fans of sterling silver the same degree of satisfaction at a tiny fraction of the price.

Fans of sterling silver are beginning to wise up to the reality of brand illusion. It’s not something which customers can always be expected to pay for. Given the availability of these cheaper but equally attractive offerings, it is little wonder that Gaboratory designs aren’t an uncommon sight on the streets despite its luxury brand pricing. The sentiment is: why bust the bank on Gaboratory when you can get a near identical look, feel and product at a tiny fraction of the price?