Alex and Anya Founder Caroline Rafaelian Launches New Metal Alchemist Jewelry Empire


Cranston, Rhode Island. Caroline Rafaelian, who founded the iconic brand Alex and Ani in the early 2000s, officially launched her new jewelry company Metal Alchemist in Rhode Island on Friday with three new collections. All of these collections are produced in Ocean State.
Rafaelian, who no longer works with Alex and Ani, said that Metal Alchemist is “the first of its kind in many ways”. “It’s an art that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The three collections are woven metal mesh, intentional wire, and metal-bonded precious metal, and they use a proprietary purification and precipitation process that combines gold, silver, and copper unique to Metal Alchemist. Collections include bracelets, rings, and necklaces, priced between $28 and $2,800.
Rafaelian says Metal Alchemist jewelry is a “heirloom” meant to be passed down from generation to generation.
Her new company name pays homage to an ancient philosophy: alchemy, which originated in ancient Egypt and practiced in Europe, China, India and throughout the Muslim world, aims to turn base metals into gold. Alchemists believed that everything was made up of four elements—earth, air, fire, and water—and the alchemical tradition helped shape the scientific theories and laboratory methods still used today.
Rafaelian’s challenge was to find a way to apply age-old methods to modern manufacturing, which required two years of development, a team of engineers to build the machines, and millions of dollars. Stephen A. Cipolla and Rafaelian, presidents of the National Chain Company of Warwick, invested nearly $8 million in the machine.
Metal Alchemist uses the technique of heating, pressing and stretching metal, a process that is both new and “old as the world,” according to Metal Alchemist’s “Chief Alchemist” Marisa Morin. Dozens of products are expected to be released in the coming months.
The jewelry will be sold online at New York’s flagship Metal Alchemist store in the Tribeca area, as well as at all 62 Reeds Jewelers stores in the US.
Judy Fisher, senior vice president of merchandising at Reeds Jewelers, was so intrigued by the new concept that less than a week after Rafaelian called to tell her, Reeds CEO Alan M. Zimmer and marketing VP Mitch Kahn personally visited the design. .
“We have a lot of respect for her. We don’t often get on a plane to see suppliers,” Judy Fisher, senior vice president of merchandising at Reeds Jewelers, told the Globe.
Fisher explained that over the past two decades, the jewelery industry has focused on the emotional connection between men and women, and much of the innovation has revolved around engagement rings. It will take years for customers to start accepting metals like titanium, cobalt and stainless steel, she said. But Fisher believes it won’t take long to win consumer confidence with Metal Alchemist’s unique bonding metals.
“It has always been an emotional love story. But generations have changed, and the industry has evolved. Romantic gifts are no longer the headline,” Fischer said. “It’s more about self-expression. There are no rules, you can dress however you want and be yourself. So I don’t know if (metal alchemists) would have worked 20 years ago. But with today’s consumers, things are different. closely connected”.
Rafaelian founded Alex and Anya in the basement of Cinerama Jewelry, a business her late father started in Cranston, Rhode Island in 1966, which she and her sister eventually took over. She began to experiment with metals, welding them into bracelets with the symbols and amulets of the sages. In 2004, she patented a fairly simple design: a stretchable wire bracelet. By the mid-2010s, Alex and Ani was the fastest growing company in the US.
Alex and Ani kicked her out in 2020 after a series of executive layoffs, lawsuits and problems with international private equity firms. The company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021.
When she returned to the jewelry business, Rafaelian said she was dedicated to making American-made goods and “re-lighted the lights” at her Rhode Island factory, once known as the jewelry capital of the world.
“The world is now ready for metal alchemists,” Rafaelian told the Globe. “Just as people care about what they put on their body and on their face, this brand will show them why it’s important to understand the metals we put on our skin.”
Alexa Gagosz can be contacted at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.