Questions we're glad to answer.

Cards, tap-to-pay, cash. It all works for us!

Currently the answer is “come visit us.” If you have something in mind, give us a call or an email and we'll do our best to find and ship whatever you'd like.

We do our best to find out any and all information relevant to a piece. We are working to get some of our higher-priced items appraised for this reason. Additionally, we work hard to track down and understand the history of the pieces we have, and we pride ourselves in transparency. We will never knowingly misrepresent a piece and will answer any and all questions to the best of our ability.

In this effort, we use scientific tools within our shop to learn about the items we sell. Documenting place of purchase, provenance, and measurements or features is valuable knowledge — especially as heirloom pieces pass from one generation to the next. This is something we're looking to solve, and provide, in the near future for many of our items.

The majority of our precious gemstones are vintage, antique, or domestic — like Montana sapphires. The same is true of our diamonds and our jewelry: most of it is vintage or antique.

Lab gemstones are available upon request for custom pieces — see our engagement rings page for more on custom work.

Many of our items are handmade. That means someone put hours of their time into creating the piece. Labor, plus material, plus the operations of our lovely store, all require that we price things a certain way. We make sure to price things fairly, taking into consideration the age of the item, the amount of work required to make it, and the material used. Many folks mention how fairly our items are priced.

For other items — fossils, rocks, and antiques — we work hard to source unique and one-of-a-kind pieces, and the prices reflect that. We are not here to cheat you or to be a tourist trap. We are here to share the unique items the world has to offer that make this planet such an interesting place to live.

We have art from Native artists who live in Seattle. We also have art from folks who are of Coast Salish descent. The Coast Salish peoples incorporates a broad swath of tribes that populate the coast of the Salish Sea from the Olympia area up into British Columbia. The art style of the Coast Salish people is similar across tribes, though the interpretation and lore behind the motifs differ. It's important to note that the border between the US and Canada is an arbitrary line drawn by colonizers.

Now, to address the root of the question — art from the Native folks of Seattle. The original inhabitants of this land are the Duwamish people. Our city is named after one of their late leaders, Chief Si'ahl. Unfortunately, due to imperialist politics, the Duwamish people are not a federally recognized tribe.

This matters because of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. This act, though in the right spirit, has the unintended consequence of requiring government registration with a federally recognized tribe in order for a person to claim that they are Native and that their art is Native made. There are a multitude of reasons why legitimately Native folks do not want to federally register.

Our art is labeled with the artist's name and tribal affiliation if they have a tribal card. If someone claims Native heritage but is not registered, their art is not labeled with a tribal affiliation, though we do ask that these artists share their story so we can share the nuance of identity with those who have interest in supporting the Indigenous community.

No, we are not a Native owned shop. The Raven's Nest was established in 1989 by Matthew Steinbrueck, eldest son of the man credited with saving the market from destruction in the early 70s, Victor Steinbrueck. Matthew, as a certified GIA Gemologist, primarily had interest in selling gems and jewelry — hence that portion of our store. But when folks from around town started to bring in their art to sell, he bought pieces directly from those artists. Many folks who have called Seattle home for a long time know of the Williams brothers of Nitinat Nootka descent who were some of the first artists the shop had the honor of representing. And it grew from there.

The next generation of Steinbruecks are now in the store with Matthew's eldest son, Conrad, leading the charge. We are aware of the conversations around non-Native folks in and around Native presenting spaces. We work hard to ensure that we accurately and completely represent the artists and art that we bring into our store. Though moving away from carrying Native art was a conversation that was had, it was ultimately decided that continuing to carry art by Native artists was a great way to engage in mutual aid with our Native neighbors.

We do not take this honor lightly. We feel immense gratitude to be trusted with the responsibility of sharing the history and impact of the Native community on Seattle with those who come to visit and locals alike. It is a continuous learning process to ensure we are doing our due diligence to our friends and neighbors.

We have a few great artists we're in touch with. Show us some photos of what you're looking for and we'll gladly connect you with the best fit. For engagement rings and wedding bands specifically, see our engagement rings page for our full process.

We don't offer resizing or repair services. If you'd like us to point you towards a jeweler for these services, please let us know!

Gold and silver pieces have minimal care needs. Opals, mammoth/walrus ivory, and pearls all could use special care. See more info below on each one.

Absolutely not. Elephant ivory is illegal to sell or trade per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. We work hard to bring interesting and unique pieces into our store while adhering to the laws and regulations put forward to protect wildlife. To express even interest in this material is to fuel the fire of poaching.

Those items are made from fossilized walrus and mammoth ivory. These animals have been deceased anywhere from 500 to over 15,000 years, and their ivory has laid in the earth or permafrost for centuries, where it gathers its unique coloring from the surrounding environment. Mammoth ivory also has a distinctive cross-hatch pattern that differentiates it from elephant ivory.

You may see new walrus ivory for sale in places like Alaska and the northern reaches of Canada. An exception has been made for Native Alaskans and Inuit people to carve ivory from recently deceased walruses in order to honor their cultures and traditions. New walrus ivory can only be sold and carved by Native Alaskans and Inuit peoples, and only Native Alaskans and Inuit peoples may purchase those items, in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

We don't offer appraisals in our shop and prefer folks do not bring merchandise in during store hours. If you have questions about an item, feel free to email us and we will do our best to provide information for you to the best of our abilities on a reasonable timeline.

Sometimes yes. We get a lot of items passed our way and only buy a small percentage of them. If you'd like to send something for us to look at, try purchasing@ravensnestseattle.com with photos of the items.

We can't go about giving away all of our trade secrets — but generally, we source from all over the world. Some items come directly from the artists themselves. Some come from small businesses we've worked with as suppliers for decades. Others we get from auctions, and others still we purchase outright from someone looking to downsize their own collection.