·: atelier nano jewellery :·

My line of handcrafted sterling silver jewellery is here! 

Care instructions:

Take gentle care of your jewellery. You can use soap and water and dry it by hand with a soft cloth.

Make sure it's completely dry before storing it. 

A natural dark patina may form especially if not handled often. This is normal tarnish from the copper that gives sterling silver its strength, and can be removed with a silver polishing cloth to allow the true beauty of this precious metal to shine through.

In order to reduce tarnish and corrosion, jewellery should be put on only after using hair products makeup and moisturizer and removed before exercising or showering.

Avoid storing sterling silver with rubber-based products like rubber bands. Rubber speeds up the tarnishing of your silver pieces. Do not clean with bleach.

People also have very different body chemistries, and it's natural for silver to tarnish at different rates depending on whom the wearer is. So don't be alarmed if you find silver jewellery you wear changing colour-a quick polish should bring it back to normal.

You can also keep the patina or only polish the details for contrast if you prefer!

My process:

atelier nano is a range of minaturized everyday items made beautiful in radiant sterling silver. I love the soft glow of this precious metal.

All my designs begin on paper. I rough out my sketches in notebooks, then I create a prototype sculpt and when I'm happy with it, I bring it to my local casting house to be cast. 

I then take the cast silver pieces back and polish these tiny works of art into their final state. 

These miniature silver sculptures are 100% made in Vancouver Canada. Chains and clasps etc are from Italy and the US. 

Part of the challenge was making sure I only use quality findings from trustworthy North American suppliers (ie earring backs) and work with a reputable local workshop. Cheap materials and findings from cheap suppliers are often cut with unknown metals and there's a high chance they contain heavy metals like lead or worse. Not something you want to put in your ears where the skin can be very sensitive and delicate.

It does cost much more to do things this way and do the casting work locally in Canada, but I think it's better to wear something that's skin safe and not toxic. It's also been really lovely building up a relationship with the workshop in person and they've given me so much advice and support, which was a really pleasant surprise!

The same process applies to my coming-soon line of bronze jewellery, which is also cast at the same casting house with nickel-free bronze.