Our Founder
Tim Vanover... where experience, heritage, and imagination meet.
At the dawn of the Gilded Age, one of the brightest small sparks in northern Indiana’s jewelry trade was Oliver E. Doty, a craftsman whose name once shimmered in the shop windows of downtown Elkhart. Born in Michigan in 1861, Oliver came of age in a world where a jeweler was equal parts artisan, watch doctor, metalsmith, and keeper of a town’s most intimate treasures. By the early 1900s he had made Elkhart his home, opening a modest but well-regarded shop at 102 Middlebury Street, just steps from the city’s beating heart.
From behind that counter—polishing cloth tucked in his pocket, eyeglass balanced just so—Oliver created and repaired family heirlooms, set engagement stones, and kept the community’s clocks beating true. His vocation was more than a trade. It was a quiet devotion to precision, beauty, and trust. When he died in 1916, the city directories still listed him simply and proudly: “Doty, Oliver E., well-known jeweler.”
Today, Oliver’s legacy endures in the bloodline that founded Gilded Age Jewelry. His hands never touched the tools we use now, but his spirit—of workmanship, honesty, and a certain Midwestern steadiness—still guides the workbench.
At the heart of Gilded Age Jewelry is Tim Vanover, Oliver’s great-grandson. As founder, chief designer, he is the quiet visionary behind every piece we bring to life. Tim’s journey in jewelry began long before the atelier existed, shaped by his mother’s stories and by decades spent in and around New York City’s Fifth Avenue, where the great maisons and historic jewelers captivated his imagination. Those windows of gold and light became an education of their own, teaching him the language of refinement, proportion, and enduring beauty that has always been part of his heritage.
Tim’s style is the result of lived experience — years of study, observation, and a deep reverence for the artistry of earlier eras. Over time, he has collaborated with master goldsmiths, diamond setters, engravers, and gem brokers from around the world, each relationship adding a new layer of insight and sensitivity to his work. These partnerships are built on shared respect for excellence, precision, and integrity — the same values that guided Oliver a century ago.
With a designer’s eye and a historian’s heart, Tim approaches every jewel as both artwork and heirloom. He believes a piece should carry memory, stir feeling, and feel as though it already belonged to the person who will one day wear it. His creations echo the romantic curves of the Belle Époque, the lace-like intricacy of the Edwardian era, and the sculptural grace of Art Nouveau — all interpreted with a modern, quiet sophistication.
Gilded Age Jewelry exists because Tim, like his great-grandfather Oliver, believes in beauty that lasts, craftsmanship that honors its roots, and design that speaks to the soul. Every jewel begins with his vision — and ends as a piece worthy of becoming part of someone’s legacy.
" Jewelry is a personal statement. It should reflect who you are and how you wish to be seen wherever you are. A jewel is meant to sparkle — not just from the light around you, but from the light within you.”
— Tim Vanover, Founder, Gilded Age Jewelry
