A Wyoming Couple Is Letting Go of 33 Years of Handmade Gold Jewelry — for Less Than It Cost to Make
They never took a shortcut, never used a machine, and never planned for the day it would end. This is their story.
By Margaret Sullivan, Artisan Weekly · September 2026
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The pieces of 33 years of handwork, still in the shop.
Photo: Maya & Henry's
Maya & Henry Wells,
That's the name of the couple.
The couple who made jewelry by hand for 33 years.
They never took any shortcuts or used any machines to craft their jewelry, they always made jewelry the old way just by their hands with the same tools as 33 years ago.
Nowadays where every company is mass producing jewelry with cheap alloys and brass it's very rare to find jewelry of this kind.
But now a back story how Maya & Henry came at this point and why they are selling it this cheap.
The way it started
Henry his dad was a goldsmith.
As a child Henry has been watching him.
Henry didn't start with making jewelry, he and his dad were goldsmiths, they were not the kind of people selling jewelry in a store.
If you look in the jewelry stores usually it's never the man who is selling it.
So they neither did that.
It wasn't for them.
Till one day Maya, Henry's girlfriend, graduated. After graduation always the question is: what are you going to do next?
Maya her parents wanted her to be a doctor.
But she didn't want to.
She felt lost.
She was the kind of woman that had no idea what to do.
That's the moment she took a gap year.
To really be able to make the right decision for her future.
Henry took her every day to the workshop where he was working with his dad, showing her proud of his work and his crafts.
Maya didn't know that Henry was so skilled with the tools.
He crafted basically anything what was possible to craft.
A small light bulb turns on in her mind, she knew it about what she wanted to do with her future.
She told Henry:
"I think I found my future, what do you think about starting our little jewelry shop?"
Henry couldn't stop smiling.
He was already imagining it, building together both of them love, he could continue the craft that his dad has taught him and she could be the woman in the store making other women happy and talking about their weddings, anniversaries and other achievements.
That was the point everything clicked for both of them.
Maya didn't need to be a doctor.
Even her parents wanted to.
She needed to choose for the thing what made her happy and not her parents.
So they did.
His bicycle, still in the hallway behind the shop.
Photo: Maya & Henry's
The journey
Henry crafted the jewelry, Maya was behind the counter.
That's how it started.
A goldsmith and a girl who just loved jewelry and was happier as ever to start a business with her husband.
Henry learned the craft from his dad, he passed all his entire life of experience to his son. His dad was someone proud of the work, loving the craft and knowing that good craft takes time.
That's the principle Henry always followed.
Crafting piece for piece, never taking shortcuts, never using machines and making everything by hand.
As a proud son following the way his dad taught him.
After 15 years in the shop his dad passed away.
Henry had to do it alone.
But still, in his mind his dad was watching and proud of the craft.
The realisation
They took their entire lives into the craft.
That's a realisation Henry had on a Monday morning at the coffee table.
Where he always sat.
They didn't have anything else than the shop.
Just a little jewelry shop and the pieces stored in there.
That was all they had.
No family memories.
No friends.
That was just it.
The photo above the counter: 1993, the day they hung the sign. Photo: Maya & Henry's
This was the point Henry said to Maya: it's time.
Maya looked at Henry and she knew what he was talking about.
They never talked about it, but it made sense.
33 years running a shop, it was time to retire.
Because that's usually what people their age do.
But Maya was hesitant and worrying about the pieces.
Henry told her: I don't want them anymore.
We spent 33 years of our lives already to make them.
It's time to say goodbye to it, Maya.
The photo above the counter: 1993, the day they hung the sign. Photo: Maya & Henry's
So then they took the decision they never expected to take.
They're selling their real gold jewelry with 80% OFF, priced lower than the price it cost them to make it.
Everyone asked Maya: why are you doing this?
She responded: this is the end of our chapter.
If you want to see what's left, take a look at the collection.
