Celebrating 20 Years: The Village Goldsmith Crafts Te Papa Inspired Ring

Febuary 2018 marked twenty years since Wellington's Te Papa Museum first opened its doors.

For the past twenty years Te Papa has held such an important role in Wellington's cultural identity, bringing in visitors from all over New Zealand and the world. To celebrate Te Papa's anniversary we decided to share our bespoke ring designed with inspiration from the Te Papa Museum and it's symbolic architecture. 

The building designed by Ivan Mercep, of Jasmax Architects, reflects New Zealand’s history and evolving identity.

The north face of the museum overlooks the harbour, with design aspects to embrace nature – the sea, hills, and sky. The museum’s south face welcomes the city with coloured panels, while the grid-like spaces reflect the patterns of European settlement.

Taking inspiration from the symbolic design features in the architecture we crafted a design with a mix of sterling silver, palladium and yellow gold.

14 carat yellow gold triangle accents along the shoulder of the ring were used to reflect the Polynesian patterns featured along the walls of the museum.

A mix of palladium for the geometric bars and sterling silver for the band was used in order for the two metals to age differently to reflect the mixed materials and elements of the museum's architecture. 

A subtle wave embracing a blue topaz was chosen to reflect the connection of the sea and sky and Te Papa's location overlooking Wellington's Waterfront.