Silver Jewelry Maker The Kalo Shop

Kalo Shops was one of the premier American Arts & Crafts silver studios of the early 20th century and is especially notable as an early woman-owned company. Founded in Chicago in 1900 by Clara Barck Welles and a group of women from the Art Institute of Chicago, the company became renowned for its hand-wrought sterling silver jewelry and hollowware. Kalo embraced the Arts & Crafts philosophy that valued craftsmanship, honest materials, and timeless design over mass production. Each piece was individually handmade, often displaying subtle hammer marks that celebrated the skill of the artisan.

Kalo jewelry is admired for its substantial sterling silver construction, elegant hand-hammered surfaces, and refined balance between organic Arts & Crafts styling and early modernist simplicity. The workshop frequently incorporated cabochon gemstones such as moonstone, turquoise, coral, and amethyst into bracelets, brooches, rings, and necklaces. Today, Kalo remains highly collectible among collectors of American silver and museum-quality Arts & Crafts jewelry, with pieces represented in major institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Collectors especially value Kalo for its exceptional craftsmanship, historical importance as a pioneering woman-led design enterprise, and enduring aesthetic that remains both wearable and sophisticated over a century later.