A Little Bit About Our Process
Our process begins with Collecting. We are constantly looking at the world around us to find what isn't easy to see—to discover something waiting to be discovered. Our store is full of little bits of adventures -- ours and yours. Some of our most beautiful forms were sent to us in packages from around the world by people who believe in this work.
We Curate those organic collections, sorting through to find the moments that might sing. And then we Carve, carefully moving towards an interior or hollowing out towards the outside. The pieces are carefully Cast into gold, sterling or bronze in a process very similar to the 'Lost Wax Process', an ancient practice of creating forms from structures. We work by covering the organic material in a plaster-like investment, and then putting it in a hot oven that burns the original away—an 'Organic Burn Out.' This leaves a cavity behind in the investment that is exactly the shape of what was once there. Molten metal is poured into that cavity to trap a copy of the original so that everything that was once pinecone, for example, is now sterling.
We work with parts made in this way, integrating them, fabricating them, editing them and Combining them, until we build a new language of forms. Those forms are often made in multiple and the units collect themselves into chains, bracelets, rings, earrings, and more. One collar necklace in our collection has 100 pieces of pinecone; another has 36 pieces of sea fan. Yet, one piece can hang as a stunning pendant allowing the story to be told in a single visual expression.
When a form we Create has become a piece of jewelry that we love to share again and again, it joins our Core Collection. Many of those pieces are available in solid gold, and you can find them in Merzatta Gold. When we take small elements of those pieces, and mix them with one of a kind stones? Those are Milestones.
These collections have built slowly over a decade and we hope to evolve it, with your input and support, for years to come.