The story of Jake Racklin started in the summer of 2016. We were looking for bracelets and jewelry but wanted something new, not the regular bangle or anchor bracelet. We wanted something new that stood out from the rest and had strangers stop you in the street and say “Wow! Where did you get that bracelet from?!”. After a disappointing day walking up and down 5th Avenue, Soho, and the Meatpacking district we gave up. Nothing out there satisfied our dream to get head turning jewelry. Upon coming home, the web resembled the same ordinary jewelry we’ve seen all day. Then something happened, Carl came across Jane’s old jewelry box and couldn’t figure out what it was made out of. It was natural, but had shiny pebbles and simply looked amazing. What was it made of? It wasn’t long before we found out the box was made of stingray leather and we immediately started researching if there was any current bracelets made of this material. We found one legit company, but it was impossible to justify their price. The rest was simply a cheap replicas made with fake gold and silver with poor quality control and mass produced.
o The better half of us (Jane), used to run her own jewelry company where she designed one of a kind jewelry out of fine metals and gemstones. As her other professional career picked up, her passion for jewelry had to be put to the side.
So when we both wanted stingray jewelry, with no good options to purchase, we decided to create our own company and our own designs. We wanted to create our own collections that were designed to be bold statements, unique, and allow for each to be customized to our clients desire . Something that was easier said than done...
The process turned out being more difficult than we could have imagined. Even though we have experience in design and jewelry manufacturing, our quality expectations were set to the highest standards and required an extraordinary level of engineering and workmanship. It took us over a year to work out all the quality control issues and making the design perfect, durable, and functional.
The leather is imported and finding fisheries that are sustainable proved to be a challenge as well. This is also when the python skins caught our eye. All stingray tanneries are based out of south east Asia so the only way to find which is the best, is to try them all.
We obsess over the small details that you might never notice. But we think that it’s the details that makes the big difference. Every piece of our Jake Racklin bracelets are made by hand to make sure they are totally unique. From hand rolling the leather cords, to the casting of metals, to the polishing and setting stones - all made by the most experienced craftsmanship this country can provide.
All jewelry pieces are made in the USA, assembled by us in New York and Washington D.C. Our skins and leathers are imported from around the world wherever the best tannery is located, we will find it.
We are sure that you will love our jewelry as much as we do and when a stranger stops you walking down the street to ask about your Jake Racklin bracelet, let us know! We love to hear the stories of our customers.
Have any additional questions about the founders or our jewelry? We are happy to take special request and work with all of our customers to make sure they receive exactly what they want. Send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can!