About
Jewelry should feel like something.
Not just pretty.
Not just expensive.
Something real.
Something that feels like it belongs to you.
That’s what I make.
How It Started
I started making jewelry when I was fifteen years old.
Not in a fancy studio.
In my parents’ garage, without a torch, just a hammer, some pliers, some beads, and a stubborn curiosity about metal and stones.
I was fascinated by the way metal could move. How you could sit at a jeweler's bench and make whatever you want. How you could hammer a flat sheet of silver and suddenly it had texture, depth, personality. Like it had lived a life before it ever became jewelry.
That fascination never really went away.
I studied jewelry and metals in college (I got a BFA from Winthrop University) and kept coming back to the same feeling: the most interesting pieces weren’t perfect. They had movement. Texture. Evidence of the hands that made them, and inclusions from how they formed in the earth.
Those are still the pieces I want to make.
Stone First. Always.
Almost every piece of Mettle by Abby jewelry starts with a stone.
Not a sketch.
Not a CAD model.
A stone.
I spend a lot of time searching for gemstones that feel special — unusual inclusions, beautiful color, unexpected patterns. Moss agate that looks like tiny landscapes. Lapis that feels like a night sky. Emeralds that glow in deep green.
When I find a stone that feels alive, the design follows.
The metal grows around it.
Forged, Not Manufactured
Every piece is made by my hand in my studio.
I forge the metal, hammering, fusing, and shaping it to create texture and strength. Nothing is cast in large batches. Nothing is plated. Nothing is gold-filled.
Most pieces are one of a kind, because the stones themselves are one of a kind, but also because I don't repeat myself. I believe each piece should say something different. It should hold its own feeling, moment, place...
When a piece sells, it’s gone.
The next one will be different.
Jewelry for People Who Aren’t “Jewelry People”
Something I hear from customers all the time is:
“I’m not really a jewelry person… but this feels different.”
That’s exactly the point.
My jewelry isn’t about trends or status. It’s about finding something that feels like it belongs to you — something that reflects your own story, your own style, your own strength.
Something that makes you feel a little more like yourself when you put it on.
What “Mettle” Means
The word mettle means courage, resilience, inner strength.
Metal has that quality too. It’s shaped by pressure, heat, and time.
So are we.
That’s why the name felt right.
Made Slowly, Worn for Life
Every piece of Mettle by Abby jewelry is made slowly and intentionally in my studio.
The goal isn’t to make more jewelry.
The goal is to make pieces people keep for decades — pieces that become part of their lives and their stories.
Jewelry that feels like it has mettle.
Be the First to See New Pieces
Most of the jewelry I make is one of a kind.
When a piece sells, it’s gone for good.
Email subscribers get first access to new gemstones, freshly finished pieces, and special studio releases before they’re shared anywhere else.
If you love discovering unique stones and handmade jewelry that no one else has, you’re going to love being on the list.
Join the Mettle insiders and see new pieces first.
Be the First to See New Pieces
Most of my jewelry is one of a kind. When it sells, it’s gone.
Join my email list to get first access to new stones, fresh designs, and pieces straight from the studio before they appear anywhere else.