One bench, and the time it takes
Cupcup is a small silver jewelry studio. We keep a short collection, work in small runs, and finish everything by hand at the same bench. This page explains what that means in practice, because it is the part that decides what you actually receive.
We started because the finishing kept disappointing us
Most silver jewelry at this price is cast in volume and finished quickly, and it shows in the places nobody photographs: the inside of a band, the back of a setting, the join where a clasp meets a chain. Those are the surfaces that sit against skin every day, and they are the first to tell you what a piece really is.
So we set the studio up the other way round. The collection stays small enough that one person can finish every piece properly, and the price reflects material and hours rather than a marketing budget. Nothing here is made in volume to fill a shelf.
Three stages, none of them rushed
The stone is chosen first
Stones are bought loose and laid out together under daylight, then judged against each other. Two stones of the same name can look nothing alike, and the one that sits better in the setting wins.
The silver is worked
925 sterling silver. Bands are forged and filed to their final section by hand, which is why the shoulders taper the way they do and why a ring sits flush against a second band.
Setting and polishing
Claws are raised and closed over the stone one at a time, then the whole piece is polished including the surfaces you will never see. This is the stage that takes the longest and the one we refuse to shorten.
What we will and will not use
We work in 925 sterling silver, set with natural stones. We do not substitute a lab stone for a natural one without saying so on the product page. Placeholder pending confirmation with the client: confirm how the gold finish pieces are made, whether vermeil, gold plated or gold filled, and state it here plainly before this page goes live.
Silver darkens with time, especially against skin, perfume and humid air. That is not a fault, it is how the metal behaves, and a soft silver cloth brings the brightness back.
See the collection
The full collection, made in small runs and mostly in ones and twos. If you want something that is not here, write to us.
Shop the collection