Fine jewelry, mindfully crafted by human hands…
The jewelry is entirely handmade of recycled 22 karat and 18 karat yellow gold and precious gemstones – designed to emphasize color, texture, and the playful combinations of cut and rough stones. The studio uses age-old techniques of gold smithing and hand forging, stretching the boundaries of conventional jewelry design. The intention is to make work that seduces and attracts the eye; pieces that fulfill the ancient human need for adornment, using precious materials to invoke the eternal awe for the beauty nature brings forth.
Reoccurring themes include the rhythmical arrangements of several elements, repetition of similar forms or colors, the unexpected contrasts of differently textured materials. The wealth of different reds found in nature, by the sea of blues, the opaqueness of rough lapis, the transparency and subtlety of a lilac-colored sapphire, the glowing malleability of yellow gold – the mediums allow for endlessly fascination. Each individual piece communicates a certain mood; the choice of colors and textures reflects an attitude towards life, sensed by whoever is looking at the piece… like an improvisational jazz melody, like an abstract landscape…
The gemstones we most commonly use are aquamarine, apatite, amethyst, citrine, diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, morganite, opal, pearl, ruby, sapphire, tourmaline and turquoise. Each gemstone is hand selected by our team and sourced ethically from our known suppliers – most with whom we have long-standing personal relationships. Our biggest sourcing trip takes place annually in Tucson, Arizona, where we procure everything from rough stones to faceted beauties to new tools for our workshops.
While our primary metal is high karat yellow gold, we sometimes make pieces in white gold and rose gold, upon request.
Family owned atelier, San Francisco & New York…
Petra Class grew up and was educated in Germany. After studying art history and philosophy at the University of Stuttgart, she pursued a rigorous traditional education in metalsmithing and design. Petra’s years training as a silversmith constructing tableware informed her approach to jewelry making, foremost by the European tradition of applied art. Living and experimenting in the exciting city of Berlin before the fall of the Wall, she made her first steps into creating her own world of jewelry. After meeting her husband Steve, a California native, Petra emigrated to San Francisco and founded the jewelry design studio in 1991. Her classical training and connection to the cutting edge European design world combined with the organic and nature inspired attitude of California worked in harmony to create Petraʼs unmistakable vocabulary.
Since then it has grown into an atelier spanning 2 familial generations across the west coast and, recently, New York City, where a team of gifted metalsmiths create the ever growing collection of sculptural, contemporary jewelry made of high karat gold and precious gemstones. Petra, accompanied by her son Lucas, are the creative forces behind the studio, while her daughter-in-law Phoebe runs operations and 3 brilliant bench jewelers, Morgan, Clio and Emma assist in production.
Growing up in the studio environment, Lucas always had a knack for making jewelry. Even as a child, he would twist gold wire into interesting shapes on the workbench floor and help out at the craft shows (some of our longtime customers might remember him as a teenager behind the booth!). Short stints working in the studio throughout his young adult life eventually flourished into a full-time career in 2020, when the pandemic spurred him to further explore his creative side.
After studying design & art administration at Parsons School of Design, Phoebe worked in fashion for many years as a publicist. Jewelry was always a passion of hers and being quite close to the brand (her and Lucas have been together since 2015) she often assisted Petra with marketing materials, photoshoots, and trunk shows when possible, before officially joining in 2022 to run operations in the New York studio.
Morgan began working for Petra in 2014 in San Francisco. Highly skilled in goldsmithing, she currently works out of Portland, OR where she runs her own studio practice alongside producing some of our most complex pieces. When she visits the NYC studio, it’s always a treat!
After studying jewelry at the California College of the Arts, Clio began working in the San Francisco studio in the fall of 2021. With an interest in New York City, she moved to help open the east coast studio in the spring of 2022.
Emma joined our atelier in 2023 after graduating from Skidmore College, training primarily under Lucas and Clio in the NYC studio.