Philosophy

Creative Process as Sacred Act

“There is a sacredness to creating jewelry that looks like the world inside my heart, my soul, and my dreams.  Working with my raw materials, gemstones and precious metals, I create jewelry as personal symbols and heirlooms for you to wear and pass down for generations.

Purely handmade pieces are rare in our modern world. Using a variety of traditional metalsmithing techniques; forging, soldering, hand-fabricating and finishing, I design and create each piece with my own hands. It's taken decades of devoted practice to master skills necessary to take an idea from deep within my soul to a finished jewel you can hold and wear.

When I create, I follow my curiosity and invite you into what I find fascinating and inspiring via my jewelry designs. Whether it’s a new collection of one-off designs or a special project, each element in my work is obsessively researched and selected for a specific purpose. This intense attention to detail results in the signature design aesthetic that appears throughout my artwork.” - Michelle Pajak-Reynolds

Ethics

Precious Metals

Michelle Pajak-Reynolds became a licensed Fairmined gold jewelry designer in 2018.

Fairmined gold supports artisanal small-scale miners around the world. Fairmined certification, through the Alliance for Responsible Mining, enforces strict standards for mining practices including ethical and sustainable methods protecting the health and well-being of the miners and the environment.

Michelle’s sterling silver jewelry designs feature the highest quality 100% recycled sterling silver sourced from United States based suppliers. (Fairmined silver is currently not available in the US. If it does become available, Michelle will happily incorporate it into her designs.)

Gems

Michelle often knows where her gems are sourced and selects stones from small-scale gem dealers who have decades-long relationships with artisanal mining communities around the globe.

Ever curious about the mining process and committed to intensely researching the raw materials for her jewelry, Michelle began mining the gemstones for her designs in 2019. Her Mira and Pleiades collections feature ethically sourced gemstones that are traceable to the specific mine and miner (whenever possible) and country of origin.

Michelle is also a member of Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) and proudly abides by their code of ethics and standards.

Philanthropy

Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Spending time in nature, especially the woods, gives Michelle great joy and while she loves the idea of blazing new trails, this can be very harmful to delicate plants and dangerous for hikers. So, to help preserve the beauty and encourage the respectful enjoyment our natural world, she donates 5% of each Voyageuse Collection purchase to the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s (CVNP) Trails Forever Fund. The Trails Forever Fund’s sole focus is on the operation and maintenance of CVNP’s trail system and ensuring safe trails for all to enjoy forever.