March 2014 update: Winter is coming, and so is a thrilling partnership with Vancouver's Pyrrha Jewellery. When season four of Game of Thrones premieres on April 6, keep an eye out for the jewellery that the kings, queens and conspirators are wearing. Pyrrha's talisman necklaces and rings, made of sterling and bronze, are being featured in the hugely successful HBO series, as well as in an official Pyrrha for Game of Thrones collection. Starting on April 4, you can wear your allegiance on your hand or neck. The collection features the House of Targaryen's dragon of Westeros, the House of Stark's dire wolf, the House of Tyrell's rose, the House of Lannister's lion and the House of Greyjoy's kraken.
Pyrrha Jewelry's list of celebrity customers reads like a red carpet roll call: Katie Holmes. Julia Roberts. Taylor Swift. Brad Pitt. Jodie Foster. Miley Cyrus. Jeremy Renner.
But Pyrrha doesn't aggressively seek out attention from the A-list. "We're just as happy with the cool Lower Eastside kid, as we are with the grandmother who buys [one], as we are with the celebrities," says Wade Papin, who with wife Danielle Wilmore created and operates Pyrrha.
Named for a powerful daughter of the gods from Greek mythology, the Vancouver-based jewelry design studio has been creating eye-catching pieces for more than 18 years, but the line for which they're renowned around the globe — pendants, rings and other items created from casts of antique wax seals and marketed as talismans — has only existed for the last seven.
Originally, Pyrrha specialized in colourful cats eye jewelry, but veered into uncharted territory when Papin and Wilmore snapped up a box of antique wax seals at an estate sale. "We really weren't thinking in terms of making jewelry from [the seals]; we just really liked them because we liked Victorian stuff," Papin said over the phone. "But then, as we thought about it, our jewelry is based on melting wax and turning it into silver, so the idea was, 'Hey, we could attempt this same process with these pieces.'"
The couple experimented with the wax seals and precious metals for more than a year before launching their first talisman collection. At the outset, many of their retail partners were less than enthusiastic about the talismans, which looked antique and weathered next to the sleeker cat's eye line."A good number [of our retailers] said, 'This isnt you, people like the cat's eye, do what you know,'" said Papin. "At the time, I guess, the idea of imperfection of jewelry wasnt exactly rampant."
But Papin and Wilmore stayed the course, to great success. Today, their talisman collection includes more than 300 designs and is sold via Pyrrha's website, retail partners, and, since 2010, a flagship store in Los Angeles. "The flagship was kind of a strange decision but we've always liked LA and it's always been a good market for us, with all the celebrity that we get."
No matter its point of purchase, every piece in the talisman collection is handcrafted in reclaimed sterling silver, bronze or gold in Pyrrha's East Vancouver studio. Each item is designed and cast around 18th and 19th century wax seals using traditional techniques. Designs range from animals to castles, symbols to initials; customers are free to assign their own meanings to the talismans, which can make the experience of owning and wearing a Pyrrha piece deeply personal, Papin says.
What pieces are popular at any given moment depends on geography, the season, and trends in entertainment. When fans of ABCs hit fantasy series Once Upon a Time noticed that Emma Swan (portrayed by Jennifer Morrison) wore a Pyrrha swan necklace around her neck, the swan talisman necklace went from obscurity to one of Pyrrha's top selling items.
Pyrrha has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception, when Wilmore quit her mall job and Papin left a career in natural supplement sales to jump into the world of jewelry design. "We financed this whole thing with nothing," said Papin. "We used to go to the deli at the Bay to buy food to eat because our Bay card was the only thing that we had credit on." The company now employs a staff of 18.
Next up for Pyrrha: a line inspired (and officially licensed) by Game of Thrones.
Even though Pyrrha doesn't actively court celebrity customers, there's one who sticks out in Papin's mind as particularly memorable. "It was an internet sale and the receipt came up and I was like, Hugh Hefner? And so I Googled the Playboy mansion address, and there it was."
