Our story
JAD is us, Gioia and Ivano
Pure artisans and almost artists.
We are a couple and feel lucky to be able to work together.
We craft jewellery mostly with traditional techniques, we live between Malta and Italy, and love hiking, hand-weaving and sculpting. Once, we were farmers, psychotherapists, stone setters and a bit of sailors.
We love simple things, not simplifications.
Once, you would have found only jewellery and a serious tone here, as we thought this was needed. Luckily it was boring and we stopped. Now, you will find here our jewellery and its stories, Gioia’s hand-woven textiles, Ivano’s wooden sculptures, and a small blog with short stories of craftmanship, mountains and sea.
We love simple things, not simplifications. It is a while since we felt we couldn’t be represented by only one thing, and we prefer to talk about them all, with dreams, stories and thoughts.
We believe in little but well done.
So, we look for clever solutions to make real crafts less expensive and more affordable. Not so common, but the network of artisans and small producers with innovative points of view is growing. People who don’t speak of ethics but act consequently.
About ethics, hollow formulas are boring. Since long ago we have been asking ourselves which sign we leave in the world and on people, and we care for it, be it in fashion or not. We are practical and look for honest alternatives that make sense when we are not able to do as we wish.
Briefly, we love thinking!
Here you will find
- Handcrafted objects, made to last for long.
- Our work: silver jewellery with a few semiprecious stones.
- Our passions: hand-woven textiles and wooden sculptures.
- A blog, with stories of our crafts and hikes.
Want to know more?
Here is a more technical presentation of our work
Our jewellery
Hailing from different experiences we met in Italy, where we opened our first joined studio, La Fonderia dell'Oro. JAD was born in 2015 when we moved to Malta, and it is both an artistic duo and a small jewellery brand.
Our aesthetic and design explore the emotional undercurrents linking us to the natural elements, telling of the strength of the geological forces and of the depths where silver comes from, of the levity of a blow and of the force of the gales stirring the sea. In our pieces, we put the wonder for the strength of life, for its fragility, and for the human attempts to understand the world.
Scattered through a whole collection or concentrated in one single piece, there are always small signs and shreds of evidence of these concepts. Be it the simplest piece or the collector's one, in each you will find part of this story.
We explore techniques and materials to create unique jewellery, from solid silver to extra-thin wire.
Sustainable?
We are all part of the same life. Here is how we do our part to protect it.
Our micro-business model is itself a slow, respectful way of producing. We have our workshop and our pieces are all handmade by us. They are crafted to last.
We use recycled silver and a few semiprecious stones. Recycled silver has the same characteristics and value as the mined one but it is obtained from old jewellery or silverware.
We love stones but we have chosen to use a bare minimum of them. Mines are not nice to humans and to the environment. We have a small reserve of old pieces we bought years ago, so we occasionally use some but we avoid buying new ones.
We do not like businesses that green-wash their brands. We do our best but there are things that we still don’t do. Here they are.
The energy we use is probably not "green" and, for the moment, we can't change this.
We use metal boxes for our jewellery. They are precious and delicate and need proper protection. Our metal boxes will last for long and can be used for other purposes.
We do not have a certification. As small artisans, we are and will probably always be too small to afford to have one.
Most of our shipping materials are recycled or come from sustainable cardboard but we keep an eye on new, better options.
In Malta
We are members of the panel of the Malta Creative Collective an independent, collaborative, purpose-led movement that brings together like-minded creatives currently based in Malta.
We took part in collective exhibitions and collaborated with Fashion Revolution Malta. In 2019 we placed third at the Campari - Negroni 100 Art Competition , and second at the Maltese Artisans' Award for precious metals.
In 2020 we had our first contemporary jewellery solo exhibition, Southern Depths and Northern Lights, inspired by the suggestions of the Northern and Southern Pole.
From 2021 we are in the Maltese section of the Homo Faber Guide edited by the Michelangelo Foundation .
In 2022 we were among the winner of the WORTH Partnership Project with our experimental jewellery collection and kit OPTO. With OPTO we took part in the Fuorisalone of the Milano Design Week 2023.
Gioia + Ivano