Douglas Magnus

Santa Fe Buckle Designer

It was in 1972 that Douglas Magnus first took a hammer and homemade tools to fashion silver into simple ornaments, the beginnings of a long journey to the present. Learning the craft and trade of jewelry making and design came easily to me. I also had the joy and satisfaction of living and working in New Mexico, the capitol of silver and stone. My influences were the great wealth of Southwestern Indian jewelry styles. Mostly self-taught, I tried them all, and was able to master a variety of techniques for metalworking, as well as lapidary gemstone cutting. My early visits to the ancient turquoise mines (Turquoise Hill) near Santa Fe were instrumental for me in learning the art of stone cutting. Today I own those old mines, "Tiffany", "Castillian" and "Alicia Lode", and continue to cut stones from these hills for my fine jewelry.

It was in 1978, after a year and a half as production manager with a Gallup , NM Indian jewelry manufacturer, that I made the decision to steer away from purely Native American influences, and go towards American and Western design in a more contemporary style.

My vision was to create fashionable items for the leather trade. Belt buckles was an untapped field with virtually no competition. This was the beginning of what became Heartline (so named for the heart-shaped feature on the back of the four-piece buckle tips).


Some samples of the craftsmanship of Doug Magnus studio buckles.