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Jewelry Brand to Know: Studio Rua
Founded by an antiques dealer, this new line takes inspiration from ancient art and technique.
Designer Ruth Leach utilizes the lost wax casting technique to create jewelry in which one can see “traces of the maker.”
London—Vintage and antique jewelry dealer Ruth Leach spent nearly 13 years in the business before seriously pursuing her jewelry-making hobby.
The resulting Studio Rua, launched over only the last few months is, naturally, inspired by antique adornment but not from any era she sells. Instead, ancient jewelry inspires Leach, due to both its focus on symbols and its erudite, handmade quality.
“One thing that’s very important for me,” she explained, “is the ability to visually see in the pieces the maker and the traces of the maker. I work with a lot of red wax, which means you can see the fingerprints and a lot of the tool marks in the finished pieces, and you see that a lot in ancient art and ancient jewelry. I’m really interested in kind of keeping that sense of the maker in the piece.”
Having taken silver-smithing courses in the past, Leach embarked on learning the lost wax carving technique in April through a five-week course in London’s Hatton Garden jewelry district.
“My jewelry buying background is much longer than my actual jewelry making background,” Leach said. “I’m still brand-new to jewelry designing and jewelry making.”
Leach’s novice status works to her benefit in creating pieces that feel primitive, imperfect and most importantly, handcrafted.
“Lost wax casting is a process that’s been used for thousands of years by many different cultures so by using that I think it helps give a lovely tactile, handmade quality,” she explained, citing ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman jewelry as her biggest inspiration.
The symbols Leach gravitates toward are astrological, celestial and figurative. Her mix of pendants, cocktail and signet rings depict suns, stars, zodiac signs and faces, the latter of which is most interesting to the designer.
“At the moment I’m loving faces and figurative jewelry. (My work) is simple and quite classic. I want pieces that will become go-to pieces in someone’s wardrobe, and that go with a lot of other pieces and possess a sense of the artisan with a nod to ancient traditions.”
The Studio Rua Instagram account has only been active since August, and the website launched at the end of September, but already, Leach’s work is resonating with consumers. Independent boutiques began inquiring about orders before the website even
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went up, and Leach has been working on several commissions from clients who message her directly through Instagram.
Working in bronze makes Studio Rua jewelry an easy purchase—the entire line currently retails for under $260 per current exchange rates. Bronze appeals to Leach for its warm, gold-like color, and its economic accessibility makes it the perfect medium for learning as she goes and creating large pieces.
Bronze is also ideal for creating work affordable to modern women like herself who buy their own jewelry.
“I buy a lot of jewelry for myself and invest in contemporary pieces I love, so I wanted to make sure it was priced in a range that if I was looking at it I would say, ‘I can afford that,’ basically. I wanted to place it in the marketplace at a price that’s not unreachable.”
Leach’s aim going forward is to establish herself with a couple of wholesale accounts while refining the work she’s making now, honing her key pieces rather than creating lots of different collections.
She’s also interested in working with solid gold in the future and currently uses 18-karat gold plate for specific bespoke pieces. Stone-setting is also on the agenda for the fledgling brand; Leach has a particular interest in lapis lazuli and gray, rose-cut diamonds.
Find Studio Rua on Instagram or its website.
Working in bronze makes Studio Rua jewelry an easy purchase—the entire line currently retails for under $260 per current exchange rates. Bronze appeals to Leach for its warm, gold-like color, and its economic accessibility makes it the perfect medium for learning as she goes and creating large pieces.
Bronze is also ideal for creating work affordable to modern women like herself who buy their own jewelry.
“I buy a lot of jewelry for myself and invest in contemporary pieces I love, so I wanted to make sure it was priced in a range that if I was looking at it I would say, ‘I can afford that,’ basically. I wanted to place it in the marketplace at a price that’s not unreachable.”
Leach’s aim going forward is to establish herself with a couple of wholesale accounts while refining the work she’s making now, honing her key pieces rather than creating lots of different collections.
She’s also interested in working with solid gold in the future and currently uses 18-karat gold plate for specific bespoke pieces. Stone-setting is also on the agenda for the fledgling brand; Leach has a particular interest in lapis lazuli and gray, rose-cut diamonds.
View this post on InstagramOut and about with my new little friend #studio_rua
A post shared by S T U D I O R U A (@studio_rua) on Oct 21, 2018 at 1:21pm PDT
Find Studio Rua on Instagram or its website.
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