428 Metal is Handcrafted for You
Her high school jewelry room number inspires the brand name and has since been worn by Benjamin Totten on Sam Smith’s tour.
428 Metal’s Olema Necklace, photographed by Faith Knox
What once was a high school passion evolved into Abby Payta’s well-known brand. 428 Metal was born when founder Paytas and her friends collectively took metal and art classes in ninth grade. Constant collaboration, bouncing off and sketching ideas, and experimenting with different materials have foreshadowed today’s brand’s prosperity. 428 Metal is rooted in self-expression, meticulous craftsmanship, sustainable practices, and intentionality.
“Someone would finish a new ring or necklace or whatever and just be absolutely beaming with confidence,” says Paytas. “This class showed me how jewelry can make a deeper impact on people and set me off on a mission to create jewelry that brings out this confidence and empowerment in people.”
428 Metal, based in San Francisco, combines functional and organic sculptural pieces. The minimal yet astonishing designs are meant to focus more on the wearer. Paytas wants people to wear the jewelry rather than for the jewelry to wear them. Durability, comfort, and movability are essential in every 428 Metal piece. Whether it’s a ring or necklace, Paytas assures every item properly fits and moves with you while being able to empower you.
“One of my favorite rings, the Glacier Ring, has a melted, watery silver texture that tapers and encapsulates a rose-cut aquamarine,” says Paytas. “It represents the transformations water goes through to form a glacier, a cycle of freezing and melting so that people can wear a part of this really powerful process.”
428 Metal’s Glacier Ring, photographed by Faith Knox
Regarding the creative process, Paytas lets her materials, textures, and shapes guide her next moves. She goes through the lost casting wax and fabrication methods to make the jewelry. She begins by carving a wax block into a wax model of the envisioned piece. She then encases the model with molten silver into the mold to achieve a solid silver replica of the wax model. Fabrication isn’t always the same process. She wraps silver wire around a metal rod to make a chain necklace to get a four to five-inch-tall coil. Next, she saws down the coil to create chain links. Once the chain is linked, she torches them shut. The last step is to polish for a shiny finish.
Although 428 Metal is Paytas’ full-time devotion, she also works a part-time job, so she does everything she can to balance her various careers to prevent a creative block. “On the days I have set aside as my 428 Metal days, I usually handle making content, sending emails, and other business management in the morning so I can get to the studio by noon,” she says. “Once I’m in the studio, I usually work on several things at once, such as setting stones, soldering, recycling silver, carving wax models, etc. I like having several projects going at the same time. It keeps my hands and eyes from getting too tired and breaks up the monotony on days I feel less motivated.”
A few weeks ago, musician Benjamin Totten was seen wearing the Olema Necklace on the Gloria tour, and the life-changing moment for Paytas occurred just two weeks before the first anniversary of 428 Metal and the third launch of products. Paytas met Totten by chance when he was in San Francisco. Totten invited Paytas and her friends to a show, so she only had time to select pieces already made. One necklace displays a silver sculpture of a female figure representing the goddess Gaia. Another necklace comprises large and iridescent freshwater pearls on a silver chain. Paytas calls it fate — Smith was coincidentally wearing a pearl-embellished corset that night.
“It was a really incredible feeling to receive appreciation for my jewelry from someone who is incredibly talented and successful in pursuing their art,” says Paytas. “It gave me a sense of reassurance that I was doing the right thing and made me feel more grounded in why I am doing what I’m doing – not for fame but to create connection and promote self-expression. I think Sam Smith is a great example of someone who promotes fully expressing yourself.”
Paytas says she wants to continue making jewelry for bold, playful, stylish artists and jewelry lovers like Anderson .Paak, Rihanna, Laura Lee Ochoa of Khruangbin, Brittany Parks of Sudan Archives, and many more.
“I’d like to open my own studio space where people can come in to see the pieces in person, learn how to make jewelry, collaborate with other artists, and work with me to design custom pieces,” says Paytas. “Sharing not just the result but also the process and introducing jewelry as an art form and creative outlet is significant to me. People can expect to find 428 Metal worldwide, more one-of-a-kind pieces, options for custom jewelry, creative collaborations, and workshops. It’s impossible to say exactly what this will look like over the next few years, but I hope to be able to bring people together and help build a community that supports creative expression.”
