Nadja, goldsmith, Paris.
Nadja is the work of one pair of hands. She makes sterling silver jewelry in her Paris workshop, almost entirely by the lost wax technique: each piece is first sculpted in wax, then cast in silver and finished by hand. Nothing is stamped or mass-produced, and the small irregularities of a hand-cut cell or a folded ribbon are kept rather than polished away.
She is inspired by nature and by art, by honeycomb and branches, by molten and cooling matter, and she loves a challenge. That is why the atelier takes commissions: a stone to set, a shape you have in mind, a piece that does not exist yet.
Nadja also runs wax-sculpting workshops in Paris, where you carve your own ring or pendant in wax, guided step by step. See the next dates, or follow Instagram for announcements.
How a piece is made
Sculpting the wax
The piece is carved and modelled in jeweller's wax, at its final size. This is where the form is decided, cell by cell.
Investing
The wax is fixed to a sprue and set in plaster. Once the plaster has set, the mould is complete, with the wax still inside.
Burn-out and casting
The mould is fired. The wax burns away and leaves a hollow in its exact shape, into which molten sterling silver is poured.
Finishing
The plaster is broken away, the sprue cut, and the raw casting is filed, textured or brought to a mirror polish by hand.
In the collection
Twelve pieces are available to order now, each cast after you order it. See the collection.