About
Krystal LaForme Jewellery began at my workbench—first as a hobby, then as a craft I felt continually drawn back to.
What began as curiosity gradually became a practice shaped by patience, pressure, and a growing connection to the materials themselves. I became fascinated by the way raw materials respond to the making process: metal transformed through heat and force, and stone and shell revealing their character through cutting, grinding, and polishing.
That process became the foundation of my work.
As an Indigenous artist, I work with traditional materials through a contemporary lens. Each piece is designed to respect the natural character of the material while giving it a strong, refined, and enduring form.
Everything is made by hand in my studio. Silver, stone, and shell are cut, shaped, forged, and finished with close attention to structure, proportion, texture, movement, and weight. The process is deliberate, allowing the materials to influence the final design.
I am drawn to jewellery with substance—pieces that feel grounded, balanced, and built to last. The result is work with a quiet strength and a distinct character that can be worn every day or carried through generations.
Krystal LaForme Jewellery is rooted in transformation: shaped through pressure, refined through patience, and strengthened over time.
My work is for those who value honest materials, skilled craftsmanship, and objects made with purpose. Pieces that stand apart from the mass-produced. Pieces with weight, presence, and individuality.
Made by hand. Made to be worn. Made to last.
The Process
Each piece begins at my bench with an idea, a material, and a consideration of form. I sketch loosely before moving into the work itself—sawing, filing, forging, and shaping silver until the structure and proportions feel right. Throughout the process, I consider balance, weight, movement, and how the finished piece will sit on the body.
Stone and shell are cut, shaped, and polished by hand through my lapidary practice. Rather than forcing a predetermined result, I work with the natural character of each material, allowing its colour, pattern, and structure to influence the final design.
Setting requires patience and precision. Small adjustments are made and checked repeatedly under magnification to ensure every element is secure, aligned, and built to withstand wear.
The final stages focus on surface, comfort, and durability. Each piece is carefully sanded and polished by hand, with selected marks and textures preserved as evidence of the making process. Edges are refined for comfort, and the finished piece is thoroughly inspected and cleaned before leaving my studio.
The result is jewellery shaped through heat, force, time, and close attention—made from honest materials and built to be worn.
Handmade vs. Mass-Produced
Handmade jewellery begins with one maker, a workbench, and time. Each piece moves through a deliberate series of steps—cutting, forging, filing, soldering, setting, and finishing. Decisions are made throughout the process in response to the material, the structure, and the intended wear of the finished piece.
Subtle variations in texture, line, and form are part of this process. They are evidence that an object has been individually worked rather than produced to be identical to thousands of others. These details give each piece its own character and connect it directly to the hands that made it.
Mass production is built around speed, consistency, and volume. Jewellery is manufactured in batches using repeatable forms and standardized finishes. This makes pieces widely available, but it leaves less room for individual decisions, material variation, and the slower development of form.
My work belongs to the handmade tradition. I design and build each piece at my bench, giving close attention to its structure, weight, surface, and durability. Every stage is completed with purpose, creating jewellery that carries the marks of its making and is built to be worn, maintained, and kept over time—not treated as disposable.