I’ve been a fan of Mercurius Jewelry’s work for a long time, but I had never met the people behind the brand or seen their jewelry in person until recently. Now that I’ve held these beauties in my hands, I love them even more!
Mercurius Jewelry specializes in exquisitely hand crafted jewels that showcase the beauty of the earth. Their designs are as satisfying to touch as they are beautiful to behold.
Mercurius Jewelry’s creations are, in their own words, “designs are driven first and foremost by unique materials that showcase the abundance, mesmerizing patterns, and stunning variation of the natural world.
Mercurius is timeless jewelry that invokes a sense of magic, so you can move through the world feeling truly connected to air, fire, water, earth – and spirit.”
There is a love story at the heart of Mercurius: husband-and-wife team Alisa and Dave Thorp founded Mercurius in 2007, around the same time that they decided to spend their lives together. They’re also delightful and kind humans who Mr. DitL and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with during quiet moments of NY Now.
I’m a little obsessed with Mercurius Jewelry’s Intarsia Hoops.
Can you blame me? Look at those elegant swoops of gold perfectly fitted with precisely shaped interlocking slabs of turquoise. Notice that there are no prongs securing those gems: it’s the snug fit of the smoothly finished, gently curved stones holding themselves in place inside that gold setting.
This is a deceptively simple jewel. If it hasn’t clicked for you yet, I want you to sit down and imagine starting out with some lumps of turquoise and realize the planning, effort, and skill required to perfectly shape each piece so that the end result is this seamless. It boggles the mind.
My favorite thing about Mercurius Jewelry – besides their exquisite craftsmanship and meticulous creations – is the fact that they know exactly who they are and their commitment to their values is evident in every aspect of their brand.
A member of both The Community for Ethical Jewelry and the California Green Business Network, Mercurius Jewelry’s website doesn’t just prominently proclaim their commitment to being a responsible jewelry business, it explains in specific detail precisely how they honor that commitment:
- By only using precious metals that are Third Party Certified Recycled, Fairmined or recycled in-house
- By only using recycled, estate or lab-grown diamonds or newly mined stones traceable to specific countries with a higher standard of oversight and regulation than the Kimberly Process
- By only estate gems or gems purchased from dealers committed to ethical and sustainable mining and manufacturing (more info here)
- By prominently proclaiming their commitment to anti-racism
- By publicly supporting marriage equality and the LGBTQ+ community
- By regularly supporting and spotlighting charities on their Community Care page
The gorgeous talisman necklace above features champagne Mahenge garnet and dumortierite in Fairmined gold.
These are Mercurius Jewelry’s Shadow Stacker rings in 18K Fairmined gold. I’m wearing one lapis set and one turquoise set, but I liked how they looked mixed together.
I want you to look closely at those soft, ample curves of gold and see how the pillow shape of the lapis and turquoise cabochons perfectly aligns with the settings. It takes so much skill to make something this difficult look so effortless.
Can you guess what these earrings are made of?? I couldn’t, because they feature a rare mineral I had never even heard of. The faceted gems on top are lovely peridot, but the polished drops at the bottom with the mesmerizing swirls of darkness across lush green are made up of Maw Sit Sit.
So gorgeous and so interesting. I do have a particular weakness for green gems, if that wasn’t already obvious, and I think these are extraordinarily cool.
These are Mercurius Jewelry’s Cloak rings. Each one features a solid band of carved hardstone lined in 18K Fairmined gold and bezel set with a faceted gemstone.
I gave you a peek of these beauties at the top, but they deserved a second look. I’m not going to use the phrase “deceptively simple” again but it is no easy feat to create those perfect rings of polished stone and fit the gold elements into them like they have.
These pieces feel so powerful to me in a timeless way: they take the ageless beauty of our living Earth and make it wearable.
Here’s another of one of those gorgeous gemstone talisman necklaces. This one features lapis, diamonds, and a zircon and is an homage to the Greek Goddess Iris, which you can see most clearly from the imagery on the back.
I absolutely love the juxtaposition of that peachy pink zircon with the rich blue of the lapis.
And if that weren’t enough, this piece is a transformer: the lapis element of the pendant is removable, so the zircon in gold can be worn alone for a subtler look.
These pieces demonstrates a side of Mercurius Jewelry that I haven’t emphasized as much here: their skill for mechanical engineering and their extraordinary engraving.
The bracelet on the left features two large black tourmaline spheres, each of which can roll in place in its setting. When you press on the right sphere, its setting pops open to reveal a hidden clasp. As if that weren’t enough, every link of that beautiful handmade chain features a tiny black tourmaline sphere caged within. Those little spheres are not attached to anything. They’re each loose and they tremble and roll back and forth within their individual links. It’s extremely cool.
The beauty of the rings on the right is self-explanatory.
Yes it’s my fave, the Intarsia hoops again! I needed to you to see how gorgeous they are in malachite, with the stone’s natural texture serving as an innate design. Mercurius also recently introduced an Intarsia necklace of similar design, which is just as cool as you’d imagine.
A huge thank you to Alisa and Dave of Mercurius Jewelry for letting me play with all of your jewelry! Find more from Mercurius on the brand’s website here and Instagram here.
See more from the emerging jewelry artists of Curated at Luxury Lifestyle here and in my NY Now archive.
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