Meet Sonny Blaze of Los Angeles/Century City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonny Blaze.

Hi Sonny, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Thriving on curiosity, I have always been one to look beyond the obstacles in front of me. I am not a typical Angelino nor am I your ordinary farm boy. I am a 4th generation Sheep Shearer from Bethune, Colorado, population 183. I was looking beyond the dust and mud of the farm, so after graduating High School in a class of 9, I moved to Denver. I really didn’t know what I was looking for but I have been drawing since I was about 5 years old, I love music and I needed a job. So my first priority was… to join a band.

In early 1991, I joined a band called Surrender. Though we had great potential, our run was brief. However, my drummer’s family was in the jewelry repair business, and since getting a job should have been the obvious priority, I jumped at the opportunity. So by accident, my career in jewelry began.

I started as a repair delivery person. Ten years later I was the Customer Service Supervisor and well known within the Denver Metro Mall Jewelry community.

As for music, I played with a number of local bands and I became immersed in church ministry and was a Cantor at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. I became friends with Priests, including Archbishop Charles Chaput and Archbishop Jose Gómez. I was so involved that they wanted me to be a priest and I considered it… until I met THE girl. My wife Aurora.

With my wife’s support, I studied diamonds at the heart of the diamond district at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York City. I would later became a Staff Gemologist at the GIA Laboratory in New York. Which then led me to be one of about 2 dozen fancy colored diamond specialists in the world.

Acting called my wife to sunny California. So we packed up and I found my way to Beverly Hills with “jeweler to the stars”, Michael Beaudry where I helped manage an inventory of around $26 Million at the Beaudry Beverly Hills Salon. In the wake of the 2008 economic crash, however, we had to make adjustments. I returned to GIA to study Applied Jewelry Arts, with a focus on computer aided design (CAD). Shortly after, Sonny Blaze was launched and almost simultaneously I started with Eichberg Jewelers in Century City. Eichberg, to this day, is a prime source of top tier jewelry manufacturing. Unfortunately, because of NDAs, I can’t mention names but you’ve seen my work on the Red Carpet, on TV, on massive billboards, countless magazines and worn by numerous “A” listers.

One of my favorite achievements, however, was teaming up with Ultimate Ears Pro. Being familiar with music and pro audio, I had an idea in 2013 to put diamonds on In-Ear monitors. I finally got a break to make it happen in 2015 but there was a manufacturing issue so I invented a removeable faceplate. Ultimate Ears finally launched the product branded “UE Switch”. The UE Switch upgrade with jewelry, was branded as CODA by Sonny Blaze. CODA has been seen on Artists such as Eric Church, Rudy Sarzo, Usher, Machine Gun Kelly and many more. Also seen on ABC, CBS, PBS, NBC, FOX, at the White House and on numerous tours around the world.

My sister and I went to an Eric Church concert in Arizona a few years ago. Backstage I was bumping elbows with celebrities but the magical moment was when I was in the crowd, in the middle of the venue. My sister nudged me and said, “Look!”. On two GIANT video screens was a close up of Eric singing and as the lights danced on his CODA Ultimate Ears, for the first time I saw “my” work larger than life in high definition in front of thousands of screaming fans.

What a milestone for a poor migrant farm worker.

…but I’m not done yet.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road was incredibly challenging. Everyone faces 2 major challenges, the punches the world throws at you and the hits you give to yourself.

I started with nothing. We didn’t even have hot water or central heating in our house back on the farm. In 1991, at my first jewelry job, I was only making $4.50 per hour. By 1994 I was completely broke and broken. I went through a break up, my phone got disconnected and my car broke down. I barely had enough to ride the bus. My faith pulled me through as I reset my focus on the small wins. Then in the early years with my wife, I recall living in a tiny cheap apartment and remember asking myself and God, “When will I get a break?” Again, looking beyond the surface, I could see the small wins.

Later in my career, I faced the reality of “who” you know. When you get to a certain level you enjoy the opportunity of working with and becoming friends with people like Rudy Sarzo, legendary bass player for Quiet Riot, Ozzy, Whitesnake and many more… but you also face the challenge and frustration of dealing with walls of managers for people like Lady Gaga and failed connections and opportunities.

So the challenge of creating something out of nothing has been a recurring challenge. Whether it’s a financial challenge or a creative slump, I needed to look beyond what’s in front of me.

The greater challenge was always me, however. I know this is odd to say but because of my curiosity, I am always reaching to go further but when I get there, I don’t feel worthy. I have this underlying fear that someone is going to look at me and say, “He is not some great designer. He’s just a sheep shearer’s son.” Suffering from “impostor syndrome” has led me to struggles with anxiety.

However, with the support of my wife and my faith, I stayed in the fight and continue to overcome.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the Senior CAD Designer for Eichberg Jewelers in Century City and the proud owner of Sonny Blaze, Inc. Drawing has been a passion of mine my entire life. Computer modeling gives me the opportunity to take my skill to another level. I have seen my jewelry design work on the Red Carpet and beyond but I am most proud of my original work with Ultimate Ears Pro. I created something that never existed before when I conceptualized UE Switch and created CODA by Sonny Blaze and though it’s still somewhat obscure, I am most thrilled about creating work that is original and bespoke.

How do you think about luck?
“Luck” is a funny thing. I firmly believe in opportunity meeting preparation. I could have said no when my drummer asked if I wanted to come work at his mom’s jewelry repair shop. I had ZERO knowledge about jewelry in 1991 but I jumped in. I face opportunities often in my life. We all do. You may think it’s lucky for me to find myself working with people like Lady Gaga but when I keep putting myself on the right path eventually I fall upon great opportunities.

On the other hand, It’s understandable to feel the dark cloud of “bad luck” hanging overhead. Just as easily as a good opportunity can come across your path, likewise, an opportunity can be missed on timing, you can be overlooked for reasons beyond your control or things just fall apart. However, it can all be a matter of perspective.

For example, in 1990, I graduated high school and scraped up enough to buy an old station wagon. Not very cool. A couple weeks later the car burned to the ground in an freak incident while working out in the fields on the plains of Eastern Colorado. I was devastated but I had the opportunity to buy a Pontiac Firebird to replace the station wagon. It wasn’t fancy and it broke down a few years later but damn it was cool.

Sometimes you have to lose and let go to make way for a better opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sonnyblaze.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnyblazejewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonnyblazejewelry
• Twitter: https://x.com/YourDailyBlaze

Image Credits
Anthony D’Angio