The Heavy Metals Story

Heavy Metals Jewellery was born from a desire to create fine jewellery that goes against the grain. With a grunge-glam fairytale aesthetic HMJ provides an edgy but refined antidote to mainstream, mass-produced jewellery.

Established in 2019 during my time at art school, Heavy Metals quickly grew from a small creative outlet into my full-time occupation. In particular, the ancient art of wax carving was of significant interest to me and has become the foundation for the majority of Heavy Metals pieces. Lost wax carving is the ideal process for producing the rough-yet-refined textural aesthetic that has become such a signature of my work. Textures are carefully applied by hand in wax before being cast into precious metal to be preserved forever.

Working from my garage studio in Wellington, Aotearoa, I work mostly in sterling silver, solid gold and precious gemstones. I craft a lot of one of a kind pieces, and am happy to work with you on a bespoke creation made just for you.

Thanks for taking the time and wanting to learn more about my little brand,

Jennie x

 

Ethics and Sustainability


It is important to me that in creating my work, I minimise any harm to our natural environment. Therefore, only recycled precious metal is used in the casting and fabrication processes behind each Heavy Metals piece. All metal scrap generated in the studio is also reused, refined or recycled.

Gemstones can be another area of concern, and I ensures that I only work with well-established industry suppliers with similar ethics, whose gemstones are sourced ethically and without conflict or explotation. Lab-created or synthetic gemstones are also sometimes used in my work and are phsycially identical to their natural counterparts but created entirely in a laboratory, eliminating exploitation of miners. It will always be explicitly stated in a product listing if synthetic gemstones are being used.

My precious metal supplier is an NZ-based company and is a certified member of the Responsible Jewellery Council - a standards-setting organisation established to advance responsible ethical, human rights, social and environmental practices throughout the gold, silver, platinum group metals, diamond, and coloured gemstone jewellery supply chain.

If you have any specific questions regarding sustainability in my production processes or if you would like a specific gemstone to be sourced for you, please contact me at hello@heavymetalsjewellery.com