I make jewelry by hand in Karuizawa, a mountain town in Nagano about seventy minutes from Tokyo.

I grew up American and half Japanese between two countries, and spent my early career in finance and then technology in the US. What I collected in those years wasn't jewelry, it was ceramics. I liked the throwing lines, the places where you can see the clay was moving and someone's hand was on it.

The first time I tried to make jewelry at a wax studio in Tokyo, I made a vaguely crescent lump and left with sore palms.

Shortly after, I set up my own bench. Since then came an apprenticeship, metalsmithing school in Tokyo, and professional training in Europe.

Most pieces begin as mitsuro, a Japanese wax I pull and fold until the surface striates. Others are carved. Everything is cast in 18k gold, and I file, polish, set, and engrave each piece myself, under a microscope.

I work alone, so I make a small number of things each year. Most are made to order, and many are commissioned for someone specific.

If you'd like something made, write to me at studio@annehara.com.