About

One of the oldest and renown restorers of precious metals, Estes-Simmons, was born from the merger of two great southern competitors. Estes Plating and Simmons Silverplating LTD, dominated the industry for nearly 90 years. Upon the retirement in 1980 of the Simmons Plating owner, the two companies merged forming Estes-Simmons.

Estes-Simmons now employs silver specialists, designers and restorers, whose role is to delight and astound customers with their expertise. A walk through Estes-Simmons is much like stepping back into the forgotten age of craftsmanship.

Throughout its history, Estes-Simmons restored many meaningful pieces. Special projects include repairing damaged silverware for the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, creating trophies for Coca-Cola, Inc., restoring the damaged Southern Open golf trophy from 1927 and assistance with the Olympic torches.

Gia Gogishvili, owner and master silversmith of Atlanta-based Estes-Simmons Silversmiths, Inc., began his career at the age of 14 when he entered Tbilisi M. Toidze Art College. He continued his education at Moscow National Art University in 1985 where he participated in restoration workshops at the Moscow and Leningrad Art Museums. He did personal exhibitions in 1985 and 1988. In 1988 he exhibited 300 of his pieces in two months. From there, the Union of the Artists of the Republic of Georgia (Gogishvili’s home) chose him to participate in the 1991 Georgia-to-Georgia Friendship Force Program in Atlanta. Richard Mafong from Georgia State University’s School of Art and Design hosted this. He worked directly with students to further develop their metal work skills. In 1992, he began working with expert silversmith Dawson Childress who had more than 55 years of experience with the company.

His father, Jemal, who is an artist in jewelry and metals and a silversmith in the Republic of Georgia, inspired Gogishvili. His grandfather, Vano, was a blacksmith.

In 2006, Gia Gogishvili accepted an opportunity to purchase Estes-Simmons Silverplating LTD and continues to uphold a long tradition of family, and operates with excellence!