Fair Trade Hand Crafted Sterling Silver Chainmail Necklace, "Lyon"

Update (July, 2019)

I've been working with you since 2014, and have had the opportunity to learn the great importance of quality, technique and maintaining tradition. We work with a variety of techniques, such as filigree, molding, lost-wax casting, texturizing, and textiles, and we are even creating a collection with other metals.

You have allowed us to better position our work, giving us a focus on sales that has helped us grow. Our sales with you represent 25 percent of our total income. This has allowed us to continue working as a family, contracting help if necessary. Our silverwork sustains three separate families. We have also received some honorable mentions for our designs. This greatly inspires us and helps us remain active.

Our jewelry is made with love. Our goal is to continue maintaining quality and continue delighting our clients with designs that are full of tradition.

Original Artisan Story

I am passionate about my work — it's fascinating because it expresses the best of who I am. And I'm so demanding of the quality of my work, that it makes me seek the best techniques in my line of work.

My love for jewelry began when I was a little girl thanks to my father who, as a silversmith, provided for our numerous family – we are nine children. So it feels like this is something that runs through my veins.

I'm always eager to learn more about my craft. I developed my skills working at different workshops but also on my own so I could create my own designs. My father was a great teacher who taught me all there is to know about this art and its tools.

I set up my own workshop in 2006, and I've gradually been acquiring the tools and equipment that I need to craft my own designs.

I've also enjoyed crafting jewelry by hand as well as the different procedures such as mixing the alloys. We also make our own silver strands for the woven pieces. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction seeing a finished piece of jewelry, especially if my design is quite laborious to make. I enjoy the challenge of crafting them.

My inspiration comes from the ideas that may come to mind and that sustain my own unique style. My greatest challenge has been establishing my own workshop and teaching my relatives so that this art form continues to live in our souls. We do this in honor of my mom and dad, who have passed away.

It's thanks to my parents' encouragement that I've gone after my dreams and made them come true, like being able to create work opportunities for my relatives as well as for artisans in our community. I teach them, and they teach me. I listen to their proposals and, in that way, we really work together as a team.

My work is guided by my motto, 'Keep tradition alive. It must not get lost, but it can be modernized and it must be offered to the younger generations so they can learn.'