What Makes Nina Raizel Jewelry Special
The jewelry I make is based on conscious design, craft, and sustainability. I want my work to be beautiful, but more than that I want my jewelry to be a symbol for my environmental and social ethics.
Conscious design means completely thinking out a piece of jewelry before I start making it. I sketch every detail of it on graph paper, calculate the amount of materials I will need, and work out any design flaws before I start fabricating. This step of my process ensures that the production of the piece goes smoothly.
Craft means fabricating jewelry with the utmost care and attention to detail. I don’t cut corners when I’m constructing a piece, because I want it to be durable, comfortable, and wearable for many years to come. Each piece I make is special, and doesn’t leave my studio unless I’m confident that it is perfectly crafted.
Sustainability means making the most of what I’ve got so that I have minimal impact on the earth, while improving the local and global jewelry communities. I buy recycled metal and paper, go to local tool and supply trade meet-ups, and save my silver and gold dust to be recycled. I do my best not to waste any resource no matter how precious or common it is.
Not only do I practice conscious design, craft, and sustainability in my studio, but as a way of life. I bike as much as possible, I live in a shared house, I'm vegan, I donate to important causes and I buy materials and supplies locally as much as possible. I’m not perfect, but I do what I can to make the world a better place.
Design and Fabrication
I design and handcraft each piece of Nina Raizel Jewelry. I plan out my pieces to be simple, elegant, and wearable. I want my pieces to make a statement and make the wearer feel unique. Everything is cut by hand out of sheet metal or wire. I solder pieces together with a mini torch, and then do other assembly work by hand and finishing work with my flex-shaft. In each of my designs, I let the materials speak for themselves, without over-designing or complicating them. Click here to shop my one-of-a-kind collection.
Repairs
As a jeweler who is passionate about reusing and recycling everything, I am happy to repair or re-design jewelry to give it a new life. Click here to schedule an appointment.
Custom Work
Looking for something totally you? I’d love to work with you to create something special for an occasion or gift for yourself. Click here to learn more about my custom work process.
Jewelry Community
I really appreciate when people buy jewelry locally and support artists of all kinds. I think jewelry and art are important aspects of creating community. I want to give back to the wonderful community of jewelers by sharing my craft, time, and advice. I regularly volunteer with the Seattle Metals Guild. If you're interested in getting involved with the jewelry community in Seattle, click here.
Contact Me
nina@nina-raizel.com
About Nina Raizel Hartman
(pronounced NEE-na RAY-zle) (she/her)
I’ve always been the quiet one. In middle-school I was the one who was drawing in her notebook and never raised her hand in class. No one except my close friends knew my name. I was scared to talk to people because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing or have the wrong answer. Feeling invisible was better than feeling embarrassed.
Everything changed when I started getting really into making jewelry. As I child, I really liked stringing beads on wire and wearing my mom’s jewelry. When I was 15 I taught myself some more advanced beading skills. I started making intricate beaded bracelets and wire wrapped jewelry. I had a new way to express myself. A way that felt totally unique and whole. It was more than the way I talked, the clothes I wore, or the way I held my body. My jewelry told people about me in a way my words could not. And when people asked about my jewelry I found I could talk about it – what inspired me to make it, what materials I used, how I constructed it, and how it felt when I wore it.
My journey really began the summer after my junior year of high-school. I went to Pratt Institute in New York and chose to take a month long jewelry fabrication class. I learned how to solder and form metal. I learned how to hammer it and play with textures and shapes. I learned how to make a chain by hand and how to put a hinge on a locket. After getting my hands a little dirty, I realized that learning this craft was life changing and I had found my calling. This is what I was put here to do.
In my senior year of high-school I applied to and was accepted at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI. I embarked on a 4 year art jewelry program there. The jewelry studio there became my home. After graduating in 2014 with a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing, and a concentration in Nature, Culture, and Sustainability, I moved back home to Seattle to pursue a career in jewelry. I applied for a business license for Nina Raizel Jewelry in July 2014 and found a tiny shared jewelry studio to set up shop. Since then I have been creating jewelry in my studio, as well as working for other jewelers, and volunteering for the Seattle Metals Guild.
I constantly get asked "why jewelry?" and my best answer is, "I love making things that people love wearing." I really enjoy going to my studio with a piece of sheet metal, some wire, and some tools, and leaving with a finished, portable piece of art. I love the way jewelry interacts with the body, but also has a life of its own. I love the practicality of jewelry, as well as the limitless expression that accompanies it.
I may be quiet in terms of my voice and demeanor, but I don’t make quiet jewelry. I make loud jewelry with big stones that empowers you to do whatever the fuck you want with your life. My jewelry symbolizes my personal growth and inspires people to be themselves. It feels amazing to wake up every day and do what I love, and I think everyone should be able to feel the freedom and independence that comes with that.
