About Kas

At the tender age of 4, Kas Mahfood took the first steps of a journey that would lead her to become a gemologist and renowned designer jeweler. With a butter knife in one hand and her mother’s jewelry box tucked under her arm, Kas set out for the back porch. She was determined to find out exactly what was behind those shiny green stones in her mother’s necklace. Though it was only costume jewelry, her mother was far from proud that her daughter managed to disassemble her necklace without breaking a single “stone”.  Pride in her craftsmanship would come many years and many disassembled pieces of jewelry later.

Nineteen years later, in 1975, Kas was living in the Ozark Mountains on a small farm during the “back to the land” movement. While raising hogs was the family’s primary source of income, Kas made baskets and stained glass as well. During this time a man from Arizona approached Kas wanting to trade turquoise and jewelry making equipment and silver smithing lessons for breeding hogs. Kas’ first response was, “No”. But when her (now ex-) husband said, “If you don’t, I will.” She reluctantly agreed. Though at the time the trade seemed to be a much better “deal” for the other party, it is now fondly referred to as tuition.

            Kas was fortunate to have 3 friends that were jewelers. One was experienced in fabricating commercial Indian jewelry. One was experienced in casting, gold smithing, and faceted stone setting. The third was a silver smith with a degree from the New York Art Institute. Watching all of these artists work and asking questions was a wonderful supplement to her education. Her other teachers were the standards: Books and Trial and Error.d Error.d Error.

            The first ring she actually made was for her daughter. While her first three attempts ended in melted failure, she persevered and finally a ring was made.  While in the Ozarks she traveled to major art fairs with Silver Dollar City and made hundreds of pieces of jewelry. She started, through correspondence, gemology courses with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). At the same time the market was very soft for antique jewelry and she began to collect and restore it for several stores.

            After 5 years in the Ozarks, she moved back to Central Missouri. She worked out of a studio in her home for a few years, and eventually opened a store in Jefferson City, Missouri. It was at this point that she began attending the largest gem and mineral show in the world --in Tucson, Arizona. Initially she worked at the show for a major gem company selling stones. Now she goes to Tucson to meet with mine owners, attend seminars, look at new gem finds, explore fashion trends, purchase stones for crafting, and visit with friends from all over the world.

            Today Kas designs the pieces, carves the waxes, and selects the stones for all of the jewelry crafted for Kas A Designs. She has created the most up to date and technically advanced jewelry design and manufacturing center in Central Missouri. Her travels around the country and the world bring exotic gems (pearls from Tahiti) and antique jewelry (from England) to be offered in her store, still in the same Victorian neighborhood in Jefferson City, Missouri.