Luana Coonen Jewelry

About Luana

Luana was born and raised in Hawaii, where she lived a simple and creative life, always close to nature. Upon moving to the Bay Area to earn her BFA in Jewelry/Metalsmithing, she quickly noticed the dramatic contrast of a densely populated city to the lush, unhurried pace of tropical Hawaii. Realizing her strong affiliation with nature and organic growth patterns, she now finds even the smallest flower or blade of grass more precious than ever. She expresses her deep and abiding love of nature’s tiniest wonders through her artwork, finding ways within her work as a jeweler to amplify the beauty of simple natural objects and to bring attention to our emotions. This is reinforced by her passion to use found objects and renewable materials. Luana currently enjoys hiking, teaching goldsmithing & business workshops, traveling internationally, and spending time in her jewelry studio in Sebastopol creating new designs. 

Green Jewelry

Luana Coonen is committed to creating jewelry which is socially responsible and minimizes impact to the earth, bringing attention back to the natural environment which it originally came from.  She chooses natural specimens, rather than semi-precious or precious stones, in order to minimize the gemstone mining and the negative impact associated with mining process. When choosing to design with stones, she focuses on post-consumer diamonds (I.e., reclaimed, antique, recycled, or 'harmony' diamonds), traceable gemstones, or fair-mined stones from the USA. Green and eco-friendly products and techniques are utilized in the jewelry studio, with an emphasis on low environmental impact. 

All the organic specimens you see in the work are collected in their natural state, as to not disturb the environment. No insects or animals are harmed, killed, or injured to create this jewelry, everything is found and collected as-is. Utmost care is taken to not distress any living creature. The plastics seen in the jewelry are either acrylic or polycarbonate, both highly recyclable materials. All the jewelry is handmade by Luana Coonen and assistants in the USA, with no international outsourcing of parts or labor. Green and eco-friendly products and techniques are utilized in the jewelry studio, with an emphasis on low environmental impact. Every detail, including packaging, focuses on sustainability, recyclability, and overall impact.