Within the jewelry of artist Polly Wales there is a sense of the unexpected. Unconfined by the restraints of traditional jewelry fabrication, Polly’s signature cast-not-set method is a celebration of the beauty in imperfection and transience. The method of setting stones directly into metal allows her jewelry to continue to evolve with the wearer, with metal shifting to reveal stones, and rivulets of gold cascading among a kaleidoscope of boldly colored sapphires and richly glimmering diamonds. This unique technique allows for fragments of open space within an almost chaotic scattering of stones, and it renders each of her pieces inherently one-of-a-kind.

Originally trained as a sculpture, Polly was drawn to the intimacy of storytelling through jewelry. The development of her work is an ongoing exploration of how we build relationships with objects, and it has foundational influences in the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which is derived, in part, from the principles of impermanence and seeing beauty in imperfections. Polly is driven by the image of her collectors feeling spectacular wearing her jewelry, even if they are working in the garden, noting that her pieces don’t start out embodying the traditional image of “perfection,” and yet they empower a more unpredictable beauty. While she loves that jewelry is almost always an expression of joyful life events, her jewelry is made to be worn every day and in any environment.

The progression of Polly’s brand has consistently been an authentic expression of this artist’s spirit of rebelliousness and serendipity. Her discovery of jewelry took place almost by happenstance, and while she studied traditional jewelry design at the Royal College of Art in her native United Kingdom, her route to obtaining her degree was a circuitous one. After establishing her brand in England in 2010, she grew to understand that Los Angeles was the next natural home for her base and would allow for greater freedom for her artistic evolution. Having identified the goal, Polly moved with her family and much of her team to the states and established her home amidst the grit, sunshine and vibrancy of Los Angeles.

Embedded in the culture of the Polly Wales brand is a sense of community and social justice. Each of her pieces are crafted by hand in her Los Angeles-based studio, and Polly relishes in encouraging the advancement of the artisans with whom she works, maintaining a safe and nurturing workshop and atmosphere in which they can grow and flourish. She also views her art and that of other artists with whom she collaborates as having the power to advance social change, often joining forces to raise awareness and money for causes in which she outspokenly believes. This grace and compassion with which she approaches life is constant throughout her brand, and it is evident in each of her ethereal and sublime works of art.