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After 33 Years We Are Ending This Chapter — We're Selling Gold Jewelry Pieces at $29

We have spent 33 years of our lives handcrafting gold jewelry, and this is our last message.

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By Henry Wells, co-founder of Maya & Henry's · July 2026

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Maya and Henry Wells at the table where they have packed orders since 1993. PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

I

've never written anything like this before. Maya says I should keep it short.

    In 1993, Maya and I drove from Wyoming to a small workshop where a goldsmith named Tomas had been making jewelry the same way his father had. We had $4,000, a used station wagon, and no idea what we were doing.

Tomas showed us a bracelet he'd finished that morning. Simple. Gold. No logo. It caught the light in a way I still can't describe properly.

"People should be able to own something like this."

Maya Wells, 1993

That was the day it became our new passion together.

The couple in Tomas's workshop, October 1993. PHOTO: FAMILY ARCHIVE

What we did for 33 years

We drove back to that workshop, and later every single year. We sat with the goldsmiths. We learned which clasps hold and which ones don't. We argued about the weight of a ring until we got it right.

Tomas taught us everything. How to judge gold by its weight in your palm. How to set a stone so it stays for a lifetime. How to tell a clasp that will hold from one that won't. He was patient with two people who knew nothing, and over the years we learned to make the pieces ourselves, alongside him.

The methods Tomas showed us that first year are the same ones we used our entire career. Nothing about how we make a piece has changed in 33 years, because nothing needed to.

Finishing a Vela bracelet last month. Same way, same tools, since 1993. PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

Why a $350 bracelet costs $35 from us

I want to explain this plainly, because people ask.

When you buy a bracelet at a department store, you're paying for the store's location. You're paying the wholesaler who sat between the workshop and the store. You're paying for the ad campaign and the celebrity who wore it once.

We never had any of that. We never did marketing. We never paid a celebrity to wear our pieces. We never rented at an expensive location.

Not because we couldn't afford it, and not because we were against it. We simply never had to. So we never had to charge you for it.

Left: a comparable bracelet on a department-store counter at $350. Right: the Vela in a Maya & Henry's box at $34.95. PHOTOS: MAYA & HENRY'S

The bracelet Maya put on her wrist in 1993 is still in our collection. It's called the Vela. It's $34.95. It's the same shiny gold, the same clasp, the same workshop.

Maya has worn hers for 33 years. PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

Why this chapter is ending

I turned 74 in March. Maya is 71. We still love this.

But we've been honest with each other about what we can keep doing. The trips to the workshops are longer than they used to be. The days of packing orders until midnight are behind us.

So we made a decision. The designs you see on our collection right now are the last ones from this chapter. When they're gone, we won't be making more of them.

There's no countdown timer. There's no "only 3 left." We've never done that and we're not going to start now. We just wanted you to know, so you could decide for yourself.

Maya writing the sign for the post she published in June. "We weren't expecting the response," Henry says. PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

Some of what's still here

From left: the Sorel Pavé earrings, the Moissanite Cross necklace and the Vivara Saphielle ring. PHOTOS: MAYA & HENRY'S

At a glance · Remaining designs

Vela Bracelet

$34.95

Sorel Pavé Earrings

$29.95

Moissanite Cross Necklace

$39.95

Vivara Saphielle Ring

$34.95

Aria Square Radiant Set

Limited sets remaining

The Sorel earrings are the ones Maya wears most. She says they're the ones women stop her about.

The cross necklace has become the piece people buy for their mothers. We get letters about it. Actual letters, in the mail.

The Vivara ring was the last design we approved together, sitting at this table, in 2024. I'm partial to it.

A wall of customer letters in the workshop. "We keep every one." PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

What people tell us

I'm not going to list reviews. I'll tell you what we hear most.

That the pieces don't tarnish. That they wear them in the shower, with sunscreen, every day for years, and they look the same as the day the box opened. That they feel heavier than they expected for the price. That they bought one and came back for four more, usually as gifts.

The Aria Square Radiant set, one of the last remaining sets, with the handwritten note that goes in every box. PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

What I'd ask of you

I'm not going to tell you to hurry. We've never spoken to our customers that way and I'm too old to start.

But I will say this. Thirty-three years is a long time to make something carefully. We'd rather these pieces go to someone who'll wear them, at a price that makes that easy, than sit in storage boxes forever.

Maya and I would like that very much.

Outside the shop this summer. "Thank you for 33 years." PHOTO: MAYA & HENRY'S

Where to find them

The remaining Maya & Henry's designs are sold directly by the couple, from $29.95, while stock lasts.

See What's Still Available →

No timers. No "only 3 left." Just what's actually here.

Henry Wells

Henry Wells co-founded Maya & Henry's with his wife Maya in 1993. They live in Wyoming.