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After 33 Years, a Wyoming Couple Is Ending Their Chapter — Selling Their Last Gold Jewelry Pieces at $29

Maya and Henry Wells spent three decades handcrafting gold jewelry. This Friday, that comes to an end.

By Margaret Sullivan, Artisan Weekly  ·  July 2026

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Maya and Henry Wells at the table where they have packed orders since 1993. Photo: Maya & Henry's

H

enry Wells has never given an interview before. When I ask him why he agreed to this one, he answers before I finish the question.

Henry Wells has never given an interview before. When I ask him why he agreed to this one, he answers before I finish the question.

"Because it's the last chance anyone will get."

In 1993, Henry and his wife Maya drove from Wyoming to a small workshop where a goldsmith named Tomas had been making jewelry the same way his father had. They had $4,000, a used station wagon, and, by their own admission, no idea what they were doing.

Tomas showed them a bracelet he'd finished that morning. Simple. Shiny gold. No logo.

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

Maya Wells, 1993

"That was the day it became our passion together," Henry says.

The couple in Tomas's workshop, October 1994. Photo: Family Archive

What they did for 33 years

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

"Tomas taught us everything," Maya says. "How to judge gold by its weight in your palm. How to set a stone so it stays for a lifetime." He was patient with two people who knew nothing, and over the years the couple learned to make the pieces themselves, alongside him.

The methods Tomas showed them that first year are the same ones they used their entire career. Nothing about how a Maya & Henry's piece is made has changed in 33 years.

Finishing a Vela bracelet last month. Same way, same tools, since 1993. Photo: Maya & Henry's

Why a $350 bracelet costs $35 from them

It's the question every first-time customer asks, and Henry answers it plainly.

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.

Maya and Henry never had any of that. They never did marketing. They never paid a celebrity. They never rented an expensive location.

"Not because we couldn't afford it," Henry says. "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 the collection. It's called the Vela. It's $34.95. Same shiny gold, same clasp, same workshop.

Maya has worn hers for 33 years. Photo: Maya & Henry's

The remaining designs are sold directly by the couple.

Find a Bracelet Like Hers  →

Why this chapter is ending

Henry turned 74 in March. Maya is 71. They still love the work — that's not the reason.

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

So they made a decision, and it is a final one. The designs still available are the last of this chapter. This Friday, the chapter ends. When a design sells out before then, it will not be made again — there is no one left to make it.

There are a few hundred finished pieces left — and that number is falling faster than the couple expected. Since Maya's June post, several designs have already sold out entirely. "The Aria sets went first," Henry says. "We have a handful of those left, and that's it, forever." After Friday, whatever remains goes to a charity auction, and Maya & Henry's is finished.

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 there

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

Remaining Designs  ·  Available Until Friday

Vela Bracelet

$34.95

Sorel Pavé Earrings

$29.95

Moissanite Cross Necklace

$39.95

Vivara Saphielle Ring

$34.95

Aria Square Radiant Set

Final sets, nearly gone

Check Out One of These Pieces  →

The Sorel earrings are the ones Maya wears most — "the ones women stop me about," she says. The cross necklace has become the piece people buy for their mothers; the couple gets letters about it. Actual letters, in the mail. The Vivara ring was the last design the two approved together, sitting at that same table, in 2024. Henry admits he's partial to it.

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

What their customers say

The couple won't hand over reviews for publication. Henry summarizes instead, and the letters on the wall back him up.

That they were never able to afford gold jewelry — and because of Maya and Henry, they finally were. That a piece like this always felt like it belonged to only the rich women, until one was in their own hands. And that most people come back — not because the jewelry tarnished, but because they still couldn't believe something like Maya & Henry's existed.

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

The last ask

I ask Henry, at the end, if he has a message for the people reading this.

He thinks about it for a while.

"I'm not going to tell anyone to hurry. We've never spoken to our customers that way and I'm too old to start. But 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 lower price, than sit in storage boxes forever."

Maya adds one thing as I'm leaving: "Just don't wait past Friday. Not because we want to push you. Because we won't be here anymore."

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

Where to find them

The remaining Maya & Henry's designs are sold directly by the couple, from $29.95, until Friday, while stock lasts. After that, the remaining pieces go to auction and the chapter will be closed for good.

See What's Still Available →

Several designs have already sold out since June. What's gone is gone forever.

Margaret Sullivan

Margaret Sullivan covers craft and small business for Artisan Weekly.