Chaya studio creates eco-friendly jewelry in Biddeford's mill district

BIDDEFORD — Chaya Caron found her passion for making jewelry at a young age.

“It was the only art class in high school I hadn’t taken yet, and I was addicted,” she said.

She took a gap year after high school and found that she really missed making jewelry, and went on to pursue a BFA in jewelry and metalsmithing from Maine Collage of Art, where she graduated in 1999.

Caron still has some of the pieces she made in high school and college, and she pays homage to them with a display at her studio, which she opened in May in  Biddeford’s Mill District.

At Chaya Studio Jewelry, 90 Falls Way, suite 201, Caron makes handcrafted, sustainable, fine jewelry.

At a Biddeford +Saco Chamber of Commerce + Industry ribbon cutting on Thursday night, she demonstrated some basic techniques using a soldering iron and laser welder. It was clear that she still felt the same enthusiasm for jewelry making that she did when she was introduced to the craft in high school.

 

Chaya Caron demonstrates her craft at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at her Biddeford Studio. SBN STAFF/Liz Gotthelf

In her Biddeford studio, Caron makes custom and re-purposed jewelry. She also has a collection of necklaces, earrings and necklaces made from recycled precious metals, reclaimed diamonds and stones that are traceable from mine to market in her pieces.

 

A ring repurposed by Chaya Caron. SBN STAFF/Liz Gotthelf

Her pieces are environmentally friendly and many of the themes are nature-based, with inspirations that include chickadee nests, birds in flight, lotus blossoms and birch bark

“I like to make jewelry that’s wearable every day, pieces you can live in and wear all the time,” she said.

For more information on Chaya Studio Jewelry and hours, check out the studio’s website.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.