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Sara Borey and Cesar Sertzen started their jewelry business after taking courses at the Visual Arts Center. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Photo by Jay Paul
All it took was one jewelry-making class at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, and Sara Borey and Cesar Sertzen were hooked. The couple took the class four years ago, wanting to learn the process, not realizing it would blossom into a business.
Prior to that first class, Borey was trying to find a pair of earrings that authentically mimicked leaves. “The only thing I could find were these oval-shaped things that were like a leaf,” Borey says. “I couldn’t find anything that I actually liked … so we took the class because I wanted a pair of earrings that I couldn’t buy.”
Several Visual Arts Center courses later, Shade Metals was born, selling jewelry created from plants. The couple started the business four years ago. They create pieces from their home workshop in Jackson Ward, but you can find their work at the South of the James Market and local retailers including Strawberry Fields Flowers and Finds, Nest, and Orange. They also sell online and at different festivals and plant sales locally and across the East Coast.
What sets these pieces apart from other botanical jewelry is that they are derived from actual plants, creating a more realistic replica. Borey and Sertzen use a process in which a real specimen is placed in a flask and then surrounded in plastic. Once placed in a kiln, the plant material is burned away, and the result is a mold in the shape of the botanical specimen. There are two other processes they commonly use to create the jewelry: wax carving and 3-D printing in wax (check out a video of the process below). They rummage for loose branches, flowers and other tiny specimens for their creations. “We like to go out post-storm,” Borey says. Other plants, including tiny succulents used in their pieces, are harvested from her mother’s garden.
The back of every Shade Metals package gives the common and scientific name of the plant, along with some fun facts about it.
Borey and Sertzen take commissions, ranging from simple rings to more ornate pieces. Most of the pieces are sterling silver, but there are also some gold and a few bronze items available. They range in cost from $35 to $500.
For more information about Shade Metals, visit shademetals.com.
