Stingray leather is particularly well suited for use in jewelry. The ray skin is naturally littered with many small horn beads that can be ground and polished, giving the leather an almost gem-like appearance. Ramona Stelzer combines deep black stingray leather with brushed 925 silver for this wide rail ring.

Ramona Stelzer works in her concept store in Wismar. Once an important exponent in the Hanseatic League, the city takes pride in its seaport, the second-largest of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the graduate designer and state-certified goldsmith has devoted herself to a material resembling a part of the city’s maritime tradition: fish leather. All the more, when she found fish leather ideally suited for her jewellery pieces by its natural properties.

The ancient craft of making leather from the skin of fish was almost completely forgotten. Rediscovered a few years ago, the tanning process results in light-weighted, robust leathers, thinner than calf leather, for example, while elastic and tear-resistant due to their fibre structure. Today, you find fish leather mostly in shoes and bags.

Ramona Stelzer has made fish leather a fully-fledged jewellery material by combining it with precious metals. The result is a jewellery collection comprising pieces full of character and simple elegance. Last but not least, using fish leather takes the zero-waste idea into account: The fish skins are a by-product of food production without any other use.