MIRTA jewelry combines soft shapes and strong clean lines that meet in an organic minimalism with a striking yet poetic and feminine expression.
MIRTA jewelry evolved from merging contemporary design principles with traditional gold & silversmithing techniques. The collection redefines modern heirlooms with a focus on clean technical detailing. Each piece is designed and sustainably handcrafted in our studio from certified recycled gold & silver, and ethically sourced highest quality diamonds & gemstones.
ABOUT
MIRTA was founded by Andrea Simic as a result of an ongoing material research developed during her architectural studies. She discovered a small niche where she was able to easily develop her ideas from design to final product on her own, with much less difficulties. Andrea, a promising young architect, worked with various architects before falling into design. After making her first jewelry pieces, Andrea founded MIRTA in 2010.
I deeply appreciate natural materials. I also prefer to keep things simple.
Whether be making a gold diamond ring or designing a wooden structure I feel an obligation to keep the design understated - to allow the natural beauty of the material to speak for itself. A designer should never compete with nature.
Today we are a small, three-person brand, growing slowly but steadily. We try to keep our production on a very small scale, and evolve in a more natural, organic way, as quality can be easily sacrificed over quantity. Our main goal is to maintain the high level of craftsmanship of our products.
PRODUCTION PRINCIPLES
Our production is small-scale and mindful and each piece is produced by hand from start to finish. All jewelry is handcrafted in our Croatian workshop with finest, recycled precious metals (9/18k yellow/white gold & 925 sterling silver), ethically sourced gemstones, and sustainable low-impact, traditional gold and silversmithing practices.
We design & manufacture our jewelry in studio from start to finish. No outsourcing, no middle men. From our beginnings we embraced the fact that only by handcrafting our jewelry pieces in our own studio, we can really take control of each detail and every single aspect of our design & manufacturing processes.
Each piece of MIRTA jewelry is made by two, and sometimes four hands from start to finish. We don't work with castings which means that every single items is first forged then soldered by hand. After the initial forming, and soldering, it is cleaned with natural non-harmful acids, prior to stone setting and numerous rounds of polishing. Although it takes much more time, hand forged jewelry is significantly harder than cast jewelry, resulting in a more durable piece that is less prone to scratching and bending.
RECYCLED METALS & ETHICAL STONES
All jewelry is handcrafted from certified recycled precious metals. We source all of our metals from a local European refinery specializing in 100% recycled precious metals. This means that precious metals are salvaged from old jewelry, and scrap gold. The result is gold and silver exactly the same composition as newly mined metals, without the negative environmental consequences. Each piece is made from solid recycled 925 sterling silver and/or 9/18k solid gold, with no platings - We prefer to keep our jewelry honest.
All gemstones and semi-precious stones used in MIRTA jewelry are 100% natural. This means they are not dyed or treated in any other way, with the sole exception of some gems which are heated.
This also means that all of our stones are delicate and subject to breakage under the right conditions. Please handle with care, and research the properties and proper care of your stone to ensure they will last a lifetime. For any additional information on each specific stone, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
SUSTAINABILITY
Alongside quality, practicing sustainability is a top priority, and we take a thoughtful approach to the many points of consideration that help a business be more sustainable.
Sustainability must be defined to hold weight, and our customers deserve to know exactly what we mean when we use this word. It is a practice and as such, an ongoing effort — something we are always actively striving for –– not a definitive marker of achievement.
Besides recycled precious metals & ethically sourced stones, the foundation of our efforts is in keeping our production in studio, and minimizing the waste produced by our business. We have replaced all harmful chemicals in our production with equally effective non-harmful natural replacements. For example, we swapped the harmful pickling acid that many jewelers use with non-harmful citric acid.
Our packaging is also designed to minimize waste. It is made by hand from CO2 neutral and FSC certified paper and fully recyclable, or reusable (solid ring boxes).
MIRTA jewelry was a finalist for Best accessories designer, Croatian ELLE style awards 2016.
The MIRTA collection has appeared in international publications such as Harpers Bazaar, ELLE, Vogue, Refinery29, Le Monde, Grazia and many more.
photo by Nikola Matuhina