"I love jewelry because it isn’t something you wear out of necessity, but because you want to, because it completes your look and makes you feel like yourself. I am grateful that something crafted by my hands can help create that feeling and play a part in your self-expression."
// ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Lazuli is woman-owned, demi-fine handmade jewelry brand based in Newport, RI. We combine raw stones, natural elements, and locally-sourced vintage components, creating wearable art for those who delight in the ritual of adornment.
We primarily rely on the process of electroforming, which allows a material’s organic shape to direct the piece’s final form. We use deadstock jewelry findings and components sourced in our home state of Rhode Island to add layers of purpose and history to our work. By melding these raw and recycled elements, each piece becomes its own spontaneous bit of sculpture, equal parts vintage and natural, and always personal.
By committing to the singularity of each piece, Lazuli celebrates the individuality of its wearer. We hope our jewelry inspires joyful self-expression.
// ABOUT ERIKA
As a former geology major, Erika was searching for a way to make the specimens in her ever-growing rock collection wearable. Electroforming became the perfect technique for showcasing these natural objects while preserving their organic form. What started as a science experiment soon evolved into a creative journey and a path for artistic expression.
About Our Process
What is Electroforming?
One of the methods we use most at Lazuli is electroforming, which allows us to form metal onto non-metallic objects, like gemstones or seashells, without concealing their natural shape. To start, we apply a conductive paint that, when placed in a chemical bath charged with an electric current, encourages copper to grow around where the paint is applied.The process is a slow one, happening over a handful of days, and not always predictable. We monitor it along the way, touching up the paint and adjusting the bath’s chemical levels to ensure the copper is accumulating onto the piece evenly. The copper thickens until the piece is firmly held and enveloped, and strong enough to be worn. We are essentially growing our own bezel! Once electroformed, the piece goes through several steps of hand-smoothing and polishing, and then the copper is electroplated with a thick layer of 14k gold. We love electroforming because it results in an organic, “unearthed” finish, like liquid metal is flowing over each stone or shell. It’s another way of ensuring each piece is unique, as the metal’s shape, layers and texture can vary from stone to stone.
What is Deadstock?
Deadstock refers to materials that never made it to market. While others may pass it over as excess stock, we see it as untapped potential.Luckily, Rhode Island is home to a particularly deep trove of unused and unsold jewelry pieces, thanks to its history as a costume jewelry production powerhouse. As a result, we’re able to source a variety of vintage brass chains and components and rework them into our pieces.Using deadstock imbues our pieces with a sense of history, originality and place. Plus, it keeps a usable resource out of our landfills⏤a cause that’s important to us.
About our Gold Plating:
After over 6 years of offering gold plated jewelry, we’ve learned a lot about electroplating. One key lesson? The difference between true quality gold plating and the flash plating commonly used in fashion jewelry.
Many big-box stores use just a few mils of gold on their jewelry, which is why, after just a few days of wear, the gold often wears off, leaving your skin green and the piece looking dull. This thin layer of plating isn’t made to last.
At Lazuli, we partner with a local, family-owned plating company that applies gold plating to our pieces at thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 mils. We select the plating thickness based on how much contact the jewelry has with the skin, as well as the level of friction and abrasion a piece may experience during wear. This ensures each piece is durable and designed to withstand everyday use while maintaining its beauty over time.
We take pride in offering jewelry that strikes the perfect balance between lasting quality and affordability, giving you pieces that will stand the test of time and offer exceptional cost per wear. Here’s a breakdown of what we take into consideration when selecting the gold plating thicknesses for each piece:
100 mils is the best option for jewelry with a smaller surface area that makes a lot of contact with the skin, such as our stone stacking rings and stone stud earrings. This is the maximum plating thickness our plating company offers!
For our deadstock chains, which have more surface area, we opt for 60 mils — still significantly thick, but we reduce the plating thickness to keep costs in check.
Hoops and charms are plated at 40 mils, as they don’t make as much direct contact with the skin.
Finally, for larger surface area items that don’t come into excessive contact with the skin, like statement earrings, we go with 20 mils.
This approach ensures each piece has the right balance of durability and affordability, tailored to how each piece will be worn.
About our packaging:
We carefully and thoughtfully package every order in 100% recycled and recycleable materials (plastic free). Each box is tied with a lovely ribbon, which we hope you will keep and wear with your charms. We recommend using your jewelry box for safely storing delicate pieces.
