By Hand? Really? Yes.

All our designs start by hand. As in drawn, sketched, outlined, doodled, painted (really, it has happened more than once) or even described with words, written out or otherwise rendered by hand, on the drawing board. Or notebook. Or sometimes sketchbook. Or even possibly a napkin. Or tablet. Or iPad. Whatever it is, we draw it out first. Once we like where a concept is going, we refine the design and send it to our dear friends and artisans in Bali.

In addition to being one of the most overwhelmingly beautiful places in all the world, Bali is a jewelry designer’s dreamland, home to a tradition of metalsmithing that can be traced back centuries, if not a millennium. Silversmithing is a revered practice and valued trade, and most artisans come from families who have been part of the practice for generations. There is an implicit poetry to the work — from carving detailed designs into wax to casting pieces to painstaking attention to detail in finishing a design that was apparent to us from our very first collaboration. We are honored to have our designs felt, understood, and translated into being by such beautiful spirits.

There’s an old saying that wax, as a material, always tells the truth.

It makes sense — wax impressions catch uncanny details, early sound recording technology relied on wax, and wax document seals were the standard of trust for centuries.

Waxing Poetic isn’t just our name, in a way, it describes the very process by which our designs become. We make things and get the chance to see them made real (and loved, and worn, and changed—by all of you). We don’t take this lightly.

We believe that keeping our business practices aligned with love, sharing, gratitude, fairness, and compassion. These are brand fundamentals, and essential components of our creative process, our market practices, our approach to manufacturing, our relationships with customers and overall being in the world. To that end, Waxing Poetic seeks to engage in ethical, sustainable, and environmentally compassionate business and manufacturing practices whenever and however possible.

We keep constant watch on ourselves and our affiliates to make sure that whatever Waxing Poetic brings into the world is proportionately matched with great care for the earth (and her occupants). We choose our fabricators and factory sites with tremendous care and consideration – both for what they produce and how they accomplish it.

We are committed. Waxing Poetic began as, and remains, a female owned and family operated business. We are sisters, pilgrims, poets, mamas, mystics, courageous darlings, and many heroic others, who all believe in protecting women, each other, and our planet through the work we do.

Ours is an ever developing, ever-expanding voyage of exploration into what this means; a celebration of our talents, a forging of our bravery, a recognition of our collective beauty, our truths and the expression of all of it… our journey.

Really. It’s not just a rhyme. It’s the truth.

We’ve been given a lot: Some of them material. Some of them familial. Some of them accidental. Some of them uncomfortable (at first). Some of them large. Some of them incredibly tiny…

But if we had to choose one, just one thing to especially highlight, it would have to be this thought: “We are defined not only by the company we keep, but also by the company we make -”

So we’d better make it good.

These are among the incredible organizations we proudly support: