Year: 2021

Here at Jewel Envy, we make gorgeous handmade jewellery and art to delight special someones everywhere. However, as small business owners and independent artists, the pieces we sell contribute directly to our livelihood. So when someone chooses a well-loved piece to bring home, we get pretty happy about it.

Everyone in the studio has a different way of celebrating, and those celebrations are usually very close to their personalities. Gillian, the studio’s owner, is a mom, and is very nurturing to everyone here. When a customer buys work from Gillian, she will not admit it was her piece until after the sale, when she smiles, gives them a warm thank you, and she cheers internally. She is just as happy to send a studio goldsmith her congratulations email when their work is purchased.

Jennifer enjoys being a bit silly. Every time her work sells, she will break out in a little dance that involves jazz hands and the twist, though she might wait until no one is watching.

When someone chooses one of Alexis’s lovely pieces, she impulsively expresses her thanks out loud, whether anyone is around or not.

We all have our own version of the small business happy dance. We will be performing them all week, so check our hours, and drop by to pick up last minute gifts or see if you can catch a glimpse of what Jenn likes to call her “twinkle fingers” jig.

When did you last sit in our Crystal Palace? 💎 Which piece of jewellery started right here in the big blue house?

Share your memories with us for a chance to win a $200 giftcard to be used on finished jewellery made by our 15 in-house goldsmiths! Check out our blog or newsletter for more information!

Since we’ve turned the corner into December, the end of the year is fast approaching, with all the usual feelings (and probably a few more than usual!!). For us all at the studio, it’s a special milestone this year–December marks fifteen years of being open! In recognition of this, we are running a Share Your Memories event.

As you (hopefully) know, we do a fair amount of re-imagining of jewellery for our clientele, where you bring in older jewellery that often has some sentimental value attached to it, and remodel it into something more contemporary, but still with meaning. In addition, we’ve also shared so many special days with you- birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, retirements, celebrating milestones, and helped to restore broken or damaged jewellery to full health. We love them all! And we’d love to hear from you about them.

To that end, we’re asking you, our amazing customers, to share a memory of the studio with us–this might be a particular piece, a particular interaction, really, anything memorable about you and the studio. You can send it to us by email (info@jewelenvy.ca), or through Instagram or Facebook by DM. Pictures also welcome!

In recognition of our customers (and a slight incentive to share your stories with us), anyone who sends us a memory will be entered in a draw for a $200 gift certificate, good for online or in store shopping with the studio (good for jewellery in stock in the studio-so in the cases, or available through the online shop!).

The Share Your Memories event will run until December 24th, 4pm (which, incidentally, is when we will close for the official holidays). So, warm up those typing fingers, and send us a message!

Hope to hear from you, either on line or in store, and have a great Saturday!

–Robin (House of Cassady)

Give a holiday gift with sentiment and intention by getting in touch to create a one of a kind piece of jewellery. The gallery below is a range of custom pieces made by some of our goldsmiths. Discover more by checking out each of the goldsmiths profiles to see the range in techniques and styles offered. Better yet, come by in person to browse work and discuss details to get something started!

Handcrafting and lost wax casting plays an important role in jewellery production world. Nowadays, 3D printing technology is advancing day by day, and it has been integrated into the jewellery industry. 

Many goldsmiths began to use 3D modeling technology in their own jewelry production, because it nicely visualizes their design, and greatly improves the production efficiency. But, what is the process of making custom designed jewellery through 3D modeling technology?

1, First and foremost, communicate with customers and understand what they want.

2, Goldsmith can then construct the jewelry in the 3d modeling software, and show the details of the jewellery to the customer through rendering.

3. Making models through 3D printing allows goldsmiths to efficiently adjust the details of the jewellery and find the ideal design.

4. Use 3D printer prints the cast-able wax, then cast the wax into the final metal through lost wax casting.

5. Finish the jewellery through a series of fabrication process. 

Here is a finished custom design piece by Rex Feng.

In the jewellery world, it is important to know the difference between fabricated pieces and cast pieces. Fabricated jewellery has usually been formed and shaped from metal sheets and/or wire, piece by piece.

Cast jewellery often originates from a molds, and can be duplicated many times over. The details and lines in fabricated jewellery are typically sharper than cast jewellery, and there will often be slight variations in each piece. Jewellery that is duplicated on a grand scale will be significantly cheaper than pieces formed and finished by hand.

Buying handmade is one of the best ways to access fabricated, well-made original pieces. If you are not sure what you are looking at, just ask us! When it comes to handmade jewellery at a studio like Jewel Envy, many cast pieces are still original, one of a kind, and not duplicated.

The goldsmith may have carved wax by hand for a particular stone, and used the wax model to make something that suits only that stone, in a design that is difficult or impossible to create with sheet and wire. It is very likely that a goldsmith will create some carved, cast elements, and some fabricated elements, then put them together in the same piece.

The best way to know is to ask, and we are always here to walk you through the process of our handmade works!

Pearls for all occasions 🦪 Whether you prefer multiple loops draped artfully around the neck or simple Audrey Hepburn studs, pearls are a classic addition to any outfit.
Pearls are the natural gems formed inside a living mollusk, and have been prized for their beauty for centuries. Though they are commonly known to be spherical and white, they can naturally form in a variety of shapes and colours.

It’s a beautiful and sunny Saturday, hope you’re out and about enjoying it! As usual, we’re busy at the Jewel Envy studio, today we’ve got a group of students learning how to cut and polish their own stones, as part of our usual class rotor– which we are slowly getting back up to full speed with.

I’m constantly in awe of the creativity and commitment that our students display in our classes. Check out some examples of the awesome pieces that they’ve been able to make in some of our recent classes:

If you’re interested in taking a class, we offer a wide variety of classes– either 8 week evening classes, or single/two-day weekend classes. We do fabrication (making things from wire and sheet), or casting, but regardless of your interests, we have lots of fun! You can see the class descriptions here.

We’re almost done our classes for 2021, but never fear, the winter classes for 2022 are already up on the calendar, and we’re taking registrations for them now!