Finnish Handicraft

All Kalevala jewelry has always been made in Finland. Today, our jewelry is manufactured in our state-of-the-art factory in Helsinki, in seamless cooperation with over 90 jewelry professionals. To prove that Kalevala is a genuinely Finnish jewelry manufacturer, and jewelry made by us is truly Finnish, the Finnish Key Flag Symbol has been granted to our company. Read more about our sustainability efforts here.

Even though we use cutting-edge technology in processes such as product development and surface coating, jewelry is still made mostly by hand – on average, all our jewelry travels through more than ten pairs of hands on its way from a blank into an actual piece of jewelry. At our factory, the latest modern technological innovations are combined with centuries of traditional Finnish goldsmiths’ craftsmanship. Have you ever wondered how a piece of metal or a handful of metal grains becomes an elaborate piece of jewelry? What kind of methods, tools and equipment are needed? What kind of working processes and skills are required? Read more about the two manufacturing methods, jewelry casting and pressing. The many stages involved in the making of one piece of jewelry may come as a surprise.

When you see the modern kilns, casting equipment, washers and flashing digital displays in our foundry, it is easy to forget that the history of metal casting goes back thousands of years. Regardless of the advances in technology, the ancient fundamental principle stays the same: casting involves pouring molten metal into a mold, where it cools down and solidifies into the form of the mold – in our foundry, the mold of a piece of jewelry. As early as the Iron Age, blacksmiths in Finland knew how to cast artful jewelry. This is proven not only by the unique jewelry found in this country, as nothing similar has ever been found elsewhere, but also by the molds and fragments of molds discovered in archaeological excavations. Most of our jewelry is made by casting. Watch the video to learn about the role of a rubber mold, wax pole, metal cylinder and plaster in the making of the Diamond Twig gold ring and how a designer’s draft is transformed into a durable, beautiful piece of jewelry.

Pressing means chasing the form and ornamentation of the jewelry on a sheet of metal using steel molds. This method is probably known to many from coin minting. The pressing hall of our factory has the genuine atmosphere of a good old machine workshop. There is the smell of lubricant oil, sturdy machinery – of which the oldest and most faithful have served us for more than half a century – and often loud banging noises. And that is only natural, as the ground does tremble when pieces of metal are smashed against each other with thousands of kilos of crushing force. It may be hard to believe at first sight that even the tiniest and most delicate piece of jewelry may require brute force in the making of it. For example, the multiphase journey of the iconic Heart Ring begins from blanks, minted in the pressing hall, before it becomes a piece of jewelry ready to wear.