How It's Made | Handmade 14k Gold Jewelry | Corvo Jewelry

14K GOLD JEWELRY, MADE BY HAND IN CALIFORNIA

Every original piece of Corvo Jewelry begins the same way — with a small block of wax and my hands. Each original design is carved by me, cast in recycled 14k gold, and made to order in California. From the first cut in the wax to the moment it arrives at your door, I know exactly where your piece has been and what went into it.

I started Corvo in 2019 because I couldn't find jewelry that felt the way I wanted it to — ancient, alive, rooted in something real. Learning to carve wax by hand was how I taught myself to make the things I couldn't find anywhere else.

RECYCLED GOLD & MADE TO ORDER

I use recycled 14k gold for everything I make. Recycled gold is refined from existing gold — reclaimed from old jewelry, industrial sources, and other recovered materials — and reprocessed to the same purity as newly mined gold. It's chemically identical, with none of the environmental cost of new mining. For a brand built around pieces that are meant to last generations, it was the only choice that made sense.

I chose 14k specifically because it sits at the right intersection of purity and durability. It holds its color, its luster, and its value over time — and it's strong enough for daily wear. This is jewelry you keep on.

Every piece is made to order, which means nothing sits in a warehouse waiting for someone to claim it. Your piece is cast for you, when you order it. The gold that becomes your ring or your necklace was made specifically for you.

HAND-CARVED IN WAX, ONE PIECE AT A TIME

I carve every original design in jeweler's wax — a firm, workable material that holds fine detail and responds to hand tools in a way nothing else does. This is the same fundamental technique goldsmiths have used for thousands of years, and there's a reason it hasn't been replaced: it gives you a level of control and intimacy with the form that no digital process can fully replicate.

I work slowly. I'm looking for a quality of line, a depth of relief, a weight of form that I can feel as much as see. The carving stage is where the piece becomes itself — where a concept turns into an object with presence. Every curve, every texture, every edge in a finished Corvo piece was put there deliberately, by hand.

Once the wax carving is complete, it goes through lost wax casting — one of the oldest metalworking techniques in human history, used in ancient Egypt, pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and medieval Europe.

The wax model is encased in investment, a plaster-like material, which is then fired in a kiln. The wax burns away, leaving a precise cavity in its exact shape. Molten recycled 14k gold is poured into that cavity, filling every detail the wax held.

For certain pieces, I use sand casting, an older method that produces a slightly more organic, textured surface — the kind of quality that looks like it's been found rather than fabricated.

When the gold cools and the investment is broken away, what remains is a solid gold piece that is, at its core, exactly what I carved.