Aziza-Abdullah Nicole approaches jewelry as art, investment, memory, and inheritance.

Through her namesake brand, Aziza, she creates fine jewelry, engagement rings and grillz (or what she calls oral sculptures). Her practice brings together gemology, CAD, lost wax, and metalsmithing through a perspective shaped by family, Black culture, and craftsmanship.

In this episode of Style as Identity, we explore why Aziza deliberately pursued such a wide range of training, and how that accumulated knowledge helped her develop her design language, earn clients’ trust, and build the fine-jewelry career she envisioned. She shares how she discerns when a piece calls for exacting precision versus when it benefits from the evidence of the hand.

We also explore the craft and business of oral sculptures: teaching herself to make grillz during the pandemic, designing for the unique “canvas” of each person’s teeth, navigating fittings and materials, and pricing custom work that demands technical skill and coveted design style.

Beyond the jewelry itself, Aziza offers an honest look at what it takes to sustain an independent creative business. We discuss the importance of building multiple revenue streams, why mastering money management is essential to sustaining a creative practice, and how she has built both into her own career.