FR
EN
From the Forest to the Workshop: the journey of wood transformed into jewelry
Before becoming a jewel, wood lives a thousand lives. It grows slowly, steeped in light and wind. At Gautrot, we don’t fell trees ourselves: we purchase wood already sawn and dried from French or European suppliers who work exclusively with non‑endangered species.
We receive it, we cut it, then we work it entirely by hand all the way to the finish.
Each piece begins long before the workshop: it’s born in the choice of a noble essence, in the caress of a wood grain, in the attentive observation of what nature has already drawn. The challenge is this: not to impose a shape, but to reveal the one already sleeping within the material—like a confidence etched in time’s rings.
No flashy varnish here, no assembly line—only one‑of‑a‑kind pieces made to last, to be worn, to be passed on. From the forest to the workshop, the path is long, but it is right. And at the end of the journey: an essence transformed… and an emotion to wear.
🌿 Origin: a wood essence, a land, a story
Wood is not just a material—it is memory
A wooden jewel doesn’t begin in the workshop. It begins much earlier, in the forest. Every essence we select carries a silent narrative: years of rain, wind, and light. Slow, patient growth—where every knot, every vein, every tone bears witness to what it has endured.
Unlike industrial materials, wood doesn’t lie. It appears as it is: imperfect, living, changing. That is precisely what we look for at Gautrot: not to tame the matter but to reveal it. Within each fiber lies a story. Our work is to listen before we sublimate.
Every essence reflects a climate, a soil, a direction of wind
Wood mirrors its environment. An essence that grew at altitude won’t behave like one that grew beside a river.
This is the richness of our craft: understanding where wood comes from to know what we can draw from it. Like a winemaker with their vines, we read the soil through the grain.
Choosing the right essence isn’t just about looks
A jewel is not only a pretty color. Behind every Gautrot piece lies a demanding selection. Aesthetics matter, of course, but they don’t suffice. We seek woods that stand the test of time, that tolerate daily wear, that won’t crack or warp.
🛠️ Density, grain, stability: key selection criteria
An ideal wood for handcrafted jewelry has sufficient density (roughly 600–800 kg/m³), residual moisture below 10%, and strong dimensional stability—in short, it must remain itself despite skin moisture and temperature changes.
Grain also plays a major aesthetic role. It draws the piece. Too straight and it bores; too wild and it weakens the structure. Finding balance is a matter of experience.
Local and sustainable woods
Our local woods are mainly olive and boxwood.
🛠️ The precise moment: when tree becomes material
Our suppliers handle sawing and drying (air‑dried or kiln‑dried) to ensure a stable wood that’s ready to work.
🌿 Seasonality of felling: why wood isn’t harvested anytime
The ideal period to cut a tree destined for jewelry? Winter, when sap has receded. Wood cut then is drier and more stable—less prone to deformation. A detail? Not at all. It’s the difference between a jewel that lasts and one that fissures.
Cutting a tree in June, heavy with water, is like trying to sculpt a ripe fruit: it deforms, it moves, it spoils.
From raw trunk to first cuts
Freshly cut wood is too alive to work. It must first be transformed into usable material: sawn and split into blocks or blanks with dimensions suited to jewelry.
🛠️ Drying: a suspended time
Air or kiln? Two methods, one goal
Turning wood into jewelry takes time. But before the hand’s work, there’s an invisible imperative: drying. Without it, nothing lasts. Too much moisture invites cracks; too little, and wood becomes brittle.
Two main methods: air drying or kiln drying. The goal is the same—stabilize the material so it can weather years… and emotions.
🌿 Air drying: slow yet noble
At Gautrot, we favor air drying. Sheltered beneath an awning, the essences wait. Wind does its work. So does time. On average, allow a year per centimeter of thickness—sometimes up to two years for jewelry blanks.
This method respects the rhythm of wood, preserving natural nuances, subtle scents, and, above all, stability. It’s slow, but essential for pieces that shouldn’t crack or warp.
It’s also a way of practicing the trade: accepting that nature has its own schedule—and that haste sits poorly with precision.
Kiln drying: fast, but risky for thin pieces
By contrast, kiln drying is faster. In a few weeks, moisture can drop below 8%. Ideal for large industrial runs—but risky for fine creations.
Why? Because wood heated too quickly can stress, crack, or lose density. For wooden jewelry, that instability is fatal: the slightest shock can cause failure.
Torsion, cracks, loss of density: dangers to avoid
Poorly dried wood can lose up to 20% of its mass, shrink, or twist. These internal tensions, invisible to the eye, often reveal themselves during sanding—or worse, in the customer’s hands.
Well‑dried wood, on the other hand, keeps its density, suppleness, and resonance. That is what allows millimetric work, fine sanding, and polishing without hidden faults.
⏳ How many months (or years) to dry a noble wood?
It depends on the essence, initial moisture, thickness, and climate. As a rule of thumb:
- ✅ Dense woods (olive): 12–24 months in air drying
- ✅ Softer woods (maple, cherry): 6–12 months
- ✅ Target moisture: roughly 6–10%
Long? Yes. But poorly dried wood means a jewel that won’t live its life.
🛠️ The workshop: where wood becomes jewelry
The art of revealing natural beauty
Step into the workshop and time changes pace. Hours give way to gestures. Now dry, the wood waits to be awakened. This is where the craft of wooden‑jewel creation truly begins: revealing, not merely making.
Each piece is unique because each wood is
No two blocks are alike. Even within a single board, grain shifts and colors vary. That’s why every Gautrot jewel is absolutely unique.
This is not a production line—it’s a lifeline. Every ring, pendant, and bangle responds directly to what the wood proposes. We don’t impose a form. We suggest it, then follow.
Working with the grain, not against it
Working wood is like reading between the lines. Grain guides. It dictates curves, hollows, fullness. Ignore it and you risk breakage; follow it and you ensure strength and harmony.
Wood that grew in the wind or resisted drought—your hand feels its tension. Respect it, or it will tell you so.
Between modern tools and ancestral gestures
At Gautrot, technology doesn’t oppose tradition. We use what makes sense—no more. Sharp tools, precise gestures, and above all, a hand that senses what machines ignore.
🛠️ Lathe, abrasives, hand shaping: millimetric precision
We don’t use turning chisels or gouges for shaping: our work is sculptural. We hold the piece in hand and bring it to different sanders, which allows precise modeling. The wood lathe is reserved exclusively for bespoke ring design.
✨ The finish…
Finishing involves ultra‑fine polishing, followed by carnauba wax—which protects the wood and brings out the grain without trapping it beneath industrial varnish.
A wooden jewel shouldn’t glare—it should glow from within. Soft to the touch, warm on the skin, alive.
🛠️ From raw piece to piece of the heart
Assembly, inlay, polishing: the last steps
Once the wood is shaped, sanded, and ready to become jewelry, the real work begins. This is where the raw piece becomes the piece of the heart—where craft meets meaning.
Final assembly, any inlays, the last polish—these final millimeters and last glints make all the difference.
Integrating metal and epoxy resin
We like to pair wood with other noble materials—without ever betraying it. Adding metals or epoxy resin isn’t about overshadowing the wood but exalting it.
All our hooks and mounts are hypoallergenic stainless steel, chosen for strength and comfort.
We use high‑quality, durable, hypoallergenic epoxy resin.
These combinations are rare and considered case by case. We don’t “decorate.” We seek balance—the kind that elevates the piece without weighing it down, that lets wood speak with discreet chorus.
✨ Mirror polish: brilliance without artifice
Polishing is the last word before silence—applied slowly, by hand, to reveal wood’s deep glow without cheating.
At Gautrot we use no glossy varnish or artificial lacquer.
We polish until we reach a natural mirror glow, achieved through successive passes of ultra‑fine abrasives and a carnauba‑based wax for wood.
Good polishing isn’t seen—it’s felt. It turns a jewel into a caress, lets the wood catch the light without stealing it.
🌿 Every jewel has a soul: signature, name, story
A Gautrot jewel is never anonymous. Each piece is the result of a slow, attentive, respectful process. Naturally, it bears a name, an identity, a memory.
We don’t name all our creations, but some ask for it—because they tell something precise, or were shaped in a particular moment.
Why Gautrot names some pieces like works of art
We sometimes baptize a jewel. A first name, a word, a symbol—like you would for an artwork. Sometimes, the story of the wood meets a human story.
Names aren’t for show—they anchor the piece in a narrative larger than ourselves.
Wood as a lucky charm or personal talisman
Throughout time, wood has been seen as protective, living, energetic. We “knock on wood.” We keep it close.
Every essence has a vibration. Some wear their jewel like a talisman—a fragment of forest in the pocket, on the skin, against the heart.
✅ Passing it on: wearing a jewel that comes from the forest
A philosophy: consume less but better
Creating wooden jewelry takes time. It’s not mass production. It’s a choice of slowness, precision, and durability.
Our pieces are designed to last, to be passed on, to live with you—not just beside you.
Against disposable jewelry, for lasting objects
Today, jewelry often changes like shirts. Yet the opposite gives meaning. A well‑made wooden jewel can last decades—with a little respect: no bath, no shock, a touch of oil now and then.
It’s a small price for an ethical, local, living jewel.
A wooden jewel can last decades (and develop a patina)
Contrary to belief, wood doesn’t “wear out.” It evolves. It develops a patina. An olive‑wood necklace will acquire a warmer golden tone over the years.
That is the beauty of wood: nothing is frozen. It follows and accompanies you. It becomes your wood—your jewel.
🌿 A jewel as a bridge between humans and the living world
Wearing a local essence means wearing a fragment of land
Our woods come from here—from Ardèche, its forests, its valleys. Wearing a Gautrot jewel means carrying a piece of this rugged, luminous, deep‑rooted land.
You also carry a supply chain: small foresters, local sawyers, discreet artisans—working in the shadows so wood can keep speaking.
When a jewel becomes a personal story
One day, a client told me: “I never take it off. It’s not jewelry; it’s my anchor.” That’s the heart of our craft—when a simple piece of wood becomes a piece of you.
Not just an ornament, but a companion. A memory resting in the palm of your hand.
Every jewel is an invitation
An invitation to slow down, to listen to the wood, to reconnect with a living, complex, never‑static material. From forest to workshop, an entire world of gestures, scents, silence, and attention takes form.
Days spent sanding, observing, adjusting… for a few seconds of emotion when the jewel finally touches the skin. At journey’s end: a piece to pass on—a precious trace of the living, a story to wear on the wrist or close to the heart.
❓ Your most frequent questions
What makes wooden jewelry different from traditional jewelry?
Each wooden piece is alive: it tells the story of the tree it once was—its veins, its history—and you wear it with authenticity.
Does the wood used for jewelry deform or break easily?
No—when properly dried and chosen for density, it remains stable, strong, and reliable over time.
How should I care for a wooden jewel?
A soft cloth and a touch of oil or wax are enough to preserve its natural glow.
Is your wood sustainably sourced?
Yes. Each essence is chosen locally whenever possible, with respect for forests and a focus on minimizing waste.
Why does my wooden jewel change tone over time?
Wood evolves with you—it develops a patina, warms in color, and becomes even more personal the more it’s worn.