Culture & Style
The Strikingly Subtle Diamond Designs of Khadijah Fulton’s White Space
By Jill Newman, July 15, 2025
Founder of White Space, Khadijah Fulton, designs the everyday diamonds that women want.
White Space Bridal Ring Stack (Top) Diamond Nesting Cuff Ring, $1,760, whitespacejewelry.com, (Bottom) Touch Diamond Stack Ring, Pavé, $2,965, whitespacejewelry.com.
Some jewels don’t demand attention—they quietly command it. That’s the beauty of Khadijah Fulton’s designs, who started her brand White Space in 2016. Take her signature Continuity ring: a sculptural oval of polished gold, open and minimalist, with a single diamond poised delicately at the edge. It’s a study in restraint, where elegance whispers instead of shouts.
There’s always more than meets the eye with Fulton’s understated pieces. “The oval harkens back to many things, like an egg and the divine feminine,” the Los Angeles-based designer tells Only Natural Diamonds. “It was one of my first designs, and I called it Continuity because it’s a reminder of the continuous path of life.”
Meet the Author
- Jill Newman is a jewelry authority, editor, and storyteller with over 25 years of experience, having reported from diamond mines in Africa, cutting workshops in India and Belgium, and ateliers around the world.
- She serves as Editor-at-Large for the Natural Diamond Council, with additional bylines in The New York Times, Town & Country, Elle Décor, and Robb Report.
Minimalist Jewelry with Architectural Influence
Fulton doesn’t chase fleeting trends. Instead, she remains rooted in a minimalist philosophy shaped by mid-century modernism, architecture, and sculpture. A former fashion designer, her studio is lined with carefully curated mood boards—collages of streamlined silhouettes drawn from furniture, fashion, and the works of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. “I like the way he simplified and refined the design,” she says. She also cites German designer Dieter Rams, famed for shaping Braun’s innovative consumer products in the 1960s. “He said design should be simple, clean, and easy to understand. And I love that.”
She distills jewelry designs down to its purest forms, which she says some people might find a little bit too spare, but emphasized, “I feel it opens up space for the imagination, for living in my jewelry.” And that is the genesis of her brand name White Space. “It’s about highlighting the woman who wears the jewels and letting them express themselves.”
But don’t confuse minimalism with simple; her pieces are sculptural, sometimes whimsical, and defining, like the wavy diamond Sené ring, the dotted diamond bands, and the modernist Toi et Moi ring.
How White Space Uses Natural Diamonds
Diamonds fit seamlessly into her aesthetic because “they are classic, timeless, and go with everything,” she says. “I love working with diamonds; they are ultimate jewels and add a little bit of sparkle.” Fulton uses reclaimed diamonds and purchases stones from Misfit, a business that sells traceable, responsibly sourced stones. “Misfit has different types of diamonds, interesting cuts and colors,” she says.
She also favors unique pearls, like the lagniappe (Creole for an unexpected gift), which are harvested in the Tennessee River. She shows the unusual shapes in her modern minimalist style. “As a recovering perfectionist, I love the baroque and lagniappe pearls’ imperfections with their little bumps and blemishes. It’s a perfect metaphor for all of us as people, and especially as women.”
I love working with diamonds; they are ultimate jewels and add a little bit of sparkle.
Jewelry Designed for Real Life
A working mother with children ages 10 and 14, Fulton is creating pieces for women like herself, who go from work to drive the kids to a soccer match, and then have date night with her husband. “When I became a mom, I didn’t have time to consider every single look and every single piece of jewelry,” said the 46-year-old. “I needed things that were going to look modern, fresh, and interesting, but also I could wear them all day long and night.”
Jewelry isn’t just for everyday, she also wants to make it democratic, which means somewhat affordable. “I worked as a designer for large companies, J. Crew, Gap, BCBG, so my background is rather democratic, and I’ve always been interested in creating for real women’s daily lives.” Diamond stud earrings designs start at $270, and several rings with diamonds range from $1,500 to $2,500. She also creates custom orders and engagement rings.
The Creative Journey Behind White Space
Creative by nature, Fulton has been making things since childhood. After earning a degree at Parsons School of Design in New York, she spent a decade designing fashion in New York and Los Angeles. She discovered beading as a hobby, and when she was a stay-at-home mom, she began taking metalsmithing classes at night. It didn’t take long before the determined Fulton built a jewelry-making workshop in her garage and started using a crème brûlée torch to solder her first jewelry pieces.
What began by selling jewelry to friends took off in 2020 during COVID-19, when more people discovered her work online. As demand grew, she enlisted artisans to execute her designs. “I’m a bootstrapped indie designer,” she said. “I’ve grown really slowly and worked with materials that I can afford and continue to evolve.”
What’s Next for White Space
These days, she’s busy sketching her jewelry designs (she’s old school with pencil and paper) and collaborating with goldsmiths to bring them to life. Her stylish yet discreet jewelry continues to draw accolades: she was nominated for a design award in the “Best in Below $10,000 Retail” for her curvy diamond Sené ring at the Couture jewelry show in Las Vegas in June.
“It’s a versatile piece with elegant lines that you can wear every day, but it still is eye-catching and unusual, and that’s what I’m striving for.”
