Welcome

Welcome to Nature's Print. Since 2005 we have offered a line of fine silver jewelry. Our signature theme is jewelry based on real imprints of trees and plants. Cast in solid precious metal and finished into jewelry we seek to retain as much original detail as possible. Inspired by and in honor of the creative nature of life, this collection is meant to be both unique and enduring.


Many of the pieces we offer are prints from trees. Trees have great presence in nature and we have chosen to give them strong presence in our collection as well. Much of human history has in fact depended on the support of trees. The oak for building ships, the redwood for homes, the cedar for temples and sacred sites, just to give a few simple examples. In addition to the properties of wood, many trees are thought to have symbolic qualities or even healing energies. As such, they are archetypes of sorts. They are also very pretty.

Organic prints versus fabricated designs

Typically, when jewelers have been inspired by a natural object, like a rose, they fabricate it from scratch. This can be fine work and all credit in craftsmanship must go to the artist. With Nature's Print our designs begin with natural from and never stray far from it. Like the impression of a baby's hand in clay, or a fossil for that matter, what you see in our collection are the result of real imprints from living things.


This is easier said than done! Many of our pieces have the intermediate step of a mold copy, and some "tinkering" was required to thicken what were often ultra-thin leaves. But fidelity to the original features was always kept in mind. Perhaps this is only symbolic, but we believe it to be significant.

Cast versus dipped. What is the difference?

There is a lot of nature jewelry now becoming available made by "dipping" or electroplating leaves and other objects. This method has been around for a few decade but has seen a great revival recently. The basic technique coats organic specimens with a very thin layer of copper, silver or gold with the use of an electrically charged solution. The result has some advantages:


- Each and every coated leaf is unique

- they are quite light, even if large

- they are fairly inexpensive, having only a tiny amount of precious metal on them.


Nature's Print jewelry pieces are not made this way. Our pieces are cast in solid precious metal. This means they are solid .925 sterling silver, solid 18 K gold, or 18K gold plated over sterling. This makes them heavier and more expensive. It also means they are much stronger and made to last as jewelry should, a long time. Furthermore, each specimen was selected with extra care for its particular beauty. In other words, they were not just raked up off the forest floor! They are a cut above. At least those who wear them will know the difference. Both methods render beautiful designs. But we believe that the advantages to casting are greater.

Purchasing

Primarily we accomodate wholesale accounts and large orders only. But for the first time we are please to offer these sterling silver necklace sets.