A very short history of Galu-cha-cha™

This extremely durable and noble material was first used in the Far East as early body armor. Specifically, in eighth century Japan you find inros (small medicine bottles attached to the belt), breastplates, sheaths and handles of Samurai swords touting this precious material. It appears again in the fifteenth century, on trunks and coffers, in Korea, China and Tibet and then disappears.

In the 1750’s, Louis XV's master craftsmen were the first in France to employ this rare, exotic, and mysterious material to embellish the most precious Objets d'art for their king.

In 1851, Herman Melville made a passing reference to it in Moby Dick. But it wasn't until the 1920's that this material reappeared to inspire the designs of the avant-garde furniture makers.

Eighty years later, Designer/Goldsmith Stephen Kris is the first American jewelry designer to master the obscure, almost secretive techniques necessary to successfully work with this challenging material and incorporate it into his contemporary jewelry designs.