Before launching WEND, Wendy taught Jewelry Design at a public high school outside Seattle for 22 years. With five classes each day of 28 students per period, Wendy trained over 6,000 students to create beautiful jewelry by hand. When she wasn’t teaching high school students, she was making special jewelry for people who couldn’t find what they wanted at traditional jewelry stores.
As a young jeweler and educator, WEND founder Wendy Woldenberg visited the Yanacocha Gold Mine in Peru. Though it's a legal mine, the environmental destruction she witnessed terrified her. The impact from Large Scale Mines like Yanacocha is so profound that the damage is visible from space. Less visible is irreversible mercury contamination and wide-scale habitat destruction.
This initial journey motivated Wendy to develop responsible practices for Jewelry Design. She joined an international nonprofit organization focused on this goal, Ethical Metalsmiths, and became a Board Member for the organization.
A two-week backpacking adventure around Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail led to the launch of WEND Jewelry in 2021. On this trip, where hikers saw scenery, Wendy saw rings! Glaciers, waterfalls, and trails became imaginary rings waiting to be made.
WEND creates rugged gender-neutral fine jewelry in Seattle from sustainably sourced materials. Inspired by nature and infused with each wearer’s story, every WEND piece reflects the rugged nature of life with hand-carved textures made from Certified Recycled, Fairmined, and Fair-Trade materials, or even from our clients’ own unused jewelry.
Before launching WEND, Wendy taught Jewelry Design at a public high school outside Seattle for 22 years. With five classes each day of 28 students per period, Wendy trained over 6,000 students to create beautiful jewelry by hand. When she wasn’t teaching high school students, she was making special jewelry for people who couldn’t find what they wanted at traditional jewelry stores.
As a young jeweler and educator, WEND founder Wendy Woldenberg visited the Yanacocha Gold Mine in Peru. Though it's a legal mine, the environmental destruction she witnessed terrified her. The impact from Large Scale Mines like Yanacocha is so profound that the damage is visible from space. Less visible is irreversible mercury contamination and wide-scale habitat destruction.
This initial journey motivated Wendy to develop responsible practices for Jewelry Design. She joined an international nonprofit organization focused on this goal, Ethical Metalsmiths, and became a Board Member for the organization.
A two-week backpacking adventure around Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail led to the launch of WEND Jewelry in 2021. On this trip, where hikers saw scenery, Wendy saw rings! Glaciers, waterfalls, and trails became imaginary rings waiting to be made.
WEND creates rugged gender-neutral fine jewelry in Seattle from sustainably sourced materials. Inspired by nature and infused with each wearer’s story, every WEND piece reflects the rugged nature of life with hand-carved textures made from Certified Recycled, Fairmined, and Fair-Trade materials, or even from our clients’ own unused jewelry.
Before launching WEND, Wendy taught Jewelry Design at a public high school outside Seattle for 22 years. With five classes each day of 28 students per period, Wendy trained over 6,000 students to create beautiful jewelry by hand. When she wasn’t teaching high school students, she was making special jewelry for people who couldn’t find what they wanted at traditional jewelry stores.
As a young jeweler and educator, WEND founder Wendy Woldenberg visited the Yanacocha Gold Mine in Peru. Though it's a legal mine, the environmental destruction she witnessed terrified her. The impact from Large Scale Mines like Yanacocha is so profound that the damage is visible from space. Less visible is irreversible mercury contamination and wide-scale habitat destruction.
This initial journey motivated Wendy to develop responsible practices for Jewelry Design. She joined an international nonprofit organization focused on this goal, Ethical Metalsmiths, and became a Board Member for the organization.
A two-week backpacking adventure around Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail led to the launch of WEND Jewelry in 2021. On this trip, where hikers saw scenery, Wendy saw rings! Glaciers, waterfalls, and trails became imaginary rings waiting to be made.
WEND creates rugged gender-neutral fine jewelry in Seattle from sustainably sourced materials. Inspired by nature and infused with each wearer’s story, every WEND piece reflects the rugged nature of life with hand-carved textures made from Certified Recycled, Fairmined, and Fair-Trade materials, or even from our clients’ own unused jewelry.
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#1. Q: Can you share a motto, mantra, quote or verse that serves as a continual source of inspiration for you?
A: “In the universe there are billions of galaxies, in our galaxy there are billions of planets, but there is only one Earth.” United Nations, 2022
A commitment to the environment is at the core of every decision we make at WEND Jewelry. We actively work to reduce the carbon footprint of our jewelry by carefully choosing what we work with and how we transform it into jewelry.
#2. Q: Why is having a positive impact through jewelry important to you?
A: Having a positive impact through jewelry is important to me because it personally allows me to direct my activist tendencies toward meaningful progress in a sector that sorely needs it.
At WEND Jewelry, we are committed to using recycled (often melting our client’s gold) and Fairmined Sterling Silver, ethically sourced gemstones (even visiting mines to ensure this), and antique diamonds (as well as certain lab-created diamonds) to minimize harm and support responsible practices.
By making each piece to order and working toward a zero-waste studio, we ensure that sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Creating jewelry this way proves that beauty and sustainability can go hand in hand, making each piece meaningful for both the wearer and the world.
#3. Q: What’s your favorite gemstone and why? (If it’s too hard to pick one, what are your top 3?!)
A: My top three favorite gems are Montana Sapphires, Tourmalines, and Diamonds.
After spending a couple days touring the largest Montana Sapphire mine, I became enamored with the incredible environmental mitigation the mine was required to carry out in order to do their work. And, they are GORGEOUS! I’m always taken by gems that contain multiple colors, and Montanas are exemplary in that area.
Tourmalines have always been on top for me; especially watermelon tourmalines. The colorways are just too beautiful almost for words. In 2025, I had the opportunity to tour the Cruziero Tourmaline Mine in Brazil, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. This particular mine also very much cares about the Earth; which is obviously critical for me.
Diamonds are the hardest substance (by several times) on earth, and that is just super cool. Plus, the sparkle gets me every time. However, at WEND we only use antique or reclaimed diamonds, certified sustainable lab-created diamonds, and the occasional Australian or Canadian diamond.
