A person's bare feet walking on a shallow, clear stream with a rocky bottom.

The Jewelry Retreat.

Craft. Connect. Celebrate.

An intimate six-day experience in the Appalachian Mountains, to slow down, connect to your creativity, to nature, and craft the custom jewelry you have always dreamed of.

This quiet intimate retreat invites you and one to three of your loved ones in my precious home-studio in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. You will stay in a beautiful cabin surrounded by nature, and work alongside me in the studio to each, create your one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.

Everything is taken care of—from airport pickup to healthy meals, materials, and time to rest. All you need to do is show up and create.

For couples, friends, or families looking to mark something special, or live an out of the ordinary expeirence

A woman sitting at a white table smiling and writing in a notebook, with a pencil, a ruler, and jewelry on the table.

This experience is for you, if you long to disconnect, recharge yourself, and maybe are…

– A couple designing your wedding bands or engagement rings
– A mother, daughters, or cousins making heirlooms together
– Close friends celebrating a milestone with something you’ll wear for years
– Closed ones, desiring to mark a personal orr professionnal transformation you are undergoing
– A small circle desiring to create talismans that unites them

You don’t need to be a jewelry expert. You just need a desire to create and connect.

Schedule a discovery call

The pillars of the retreat

Person holding green berries or fruit over a rustic bowl on a wooden table.

A moment to let yourself fully land. Everything is prepared for you—transport, meals, lodging, materials—so you can slow down and breathe. From the moment you arrive, you are held. No logistics to manage, no decisions to make. Just space to rest, reconnect with nature, be guided during the workshops and enjoy the beauty around you.

Restore & Recharge

A cozy art studio with wooden workbenches, jars of brushes, drawing boards, and a large window showing a lush garden outside. The ceiling has a skylight with a view of the sky and trees.

Learn & Create

Over the several slow, intentional days, you will design and craft your own custom piece of jewelry with my guidance. Whether you are creating an engagement ring, wedding bands, celebration jewelry or transforming heirloom, this retreat will feel deeply hands-on, creative, personal and luxiurious. 

Two hands with gold rings handling a gold necklace with a small pendant, placing it into a black jewelry box. Red jewelry pliers and a jewelry tool are on a white surface.

Connect & Discover

Finally, you will likely feel you stepped into a different rhythm of life than you are used to. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, this retreat is also an invitation to explore a very intentional way of living. From the eco-conscious choices woven into daily life here, to moments of conversation, inspiration, and presence—you will most likely leave inspired and full of new ideas. 

Apply here

Included in the retreat are:

A melting ice cream cone with chocolate chips inside. The cone is laying on a dirt surface.
A narrow footpath cutting through a grassy field with wildflowers, leading towards distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky.
Hands handling gold jewelry, including rings and earrings, with jewelry tools on a white surface and a jewelry box.
Waterfall cascading over rocks in a forest with autumn-colored trees.
Living room with wooden floor, white walls, a black wood stove, potted plant, painting of a chair on the wall, and some objects on the floor and furniture.
A person is polishing or cleaning a small metal ring using a rotary polishing machine.

Accomodation

– 6 days, 5 nights in a quiet, beautiful mountain cabin.
– A studio space surrounded by mountains and forest cozy, calm, made to inspire
– Daily home-made organic meals (adjusted to your needs)

Workshops

– Four half-days of custom jewelry workshop
– Support with your design, from start to finish
– All materials (silver, gold, stones, creation supplies)

Stay & visiting around

– Private pick-up from Asheville airport
– A car at your disposal for your afternoon adventures
– Booklet & itinary recommendations of trails & activities to do around the studio

Optional: professional photos of the experience and your finished piece

Schedule a discovery call
A cozy art studio workspace with wooden desks, notebooks, art supplies, and a view of lush greenery outside through large glass windows and a skylight.

The schedule

  • • Arrival (airport pickup)
    • Welcome tea, house tour, and time to settle in
    • Seasonal and healthy dinner prepared for you
    • Fire, warm blankets, early evening - letting you land.

  • Morning
    • Slow breakfast
    • Guided session: share what brought you here
    • First sketches and design choices
    • Seasonal & healthy lunch prepared for you

    Afternoon
    • Free time to rest or explore around (nature around, river down the house, eco-village next door)
    • Seasonal and healthy dinner prepared for you

  • Morning
    • Focused studio work: wax carving, refining details
    • Piece ready for casting or forming
    • Seasonal & healthy lunch prepared for you

    Afternoon
    • Optional outing: waterfalls, forest trails, or downtown Asheville
    • Time to relax or journal
    • Seasonal and healthy dinner prepared for you or a reservation at a local favorite (optional)

  • Morning
    • Studio session: casting, forming, polishing
    • Your piece begins to come to life
    • Seasonal & healthy lunch prepared for you

    Afternoon
    • Free to wander, rest, or visit nearby art studios or nature activities
    • Quiet moment to honor what you’ve made
    • Seasonal and healthy dinner prepared for you

  • Morning
    • Light breakfast and a slow morning
    • Optional: writing prompts, walks, conversations
    • Wrap up any final touches in the studio
    • Seasonal & healthy lunch prepared for you

    Afternoon
    • Free time to rest, wander, or treat yourself
    • Optional: local market visit, mountain drive, or coffee with a view
    • Closing seasonal and healthy dinner prepared for you at home or out in town

  • • Healthy breakfast and a slow morning
    • Flexible check-out: leave early for the airport or stay to explore
    • Recommendations and guidance if you wish to extend your stay

Apply here
Illustration of six yellow and white, snail shell-shaped objects on a textured white background, with handwritten text 'To Dumont' beside each object.

The custom jewelry you will create

At the heart of this retreat is the creation of your custom piece of jewelry—one that holds meaning, memory, and your unique story.

You may arrive with a vision of what you wish to create, or with a symbol, or a moment in life you want to mark. In either case, you will be guided through each step of the process; time to gather visual inspiration (colors, textures, sketches), one-on-one design conversation, and a hands-on introduction to the techniques we will use—most often the traditional method of lost-wax carving.

You will spend two mornings carving your piece in wax, with guidance. Once the wax is complete, we will cast it in your chosen metal (often recycled gold or silver), and we will finish it by adding texture or polish, and setting your chosen stone if desired.

There is no limitation on what you can create, but I will guide you in design details that are achievable within our time frame. If you were to dream of something quite complicate, I can always finish for you after you leave the retreat and ship it or hand it to you later.

Person using a machine grinder to polish a metal ring.

You may choose to bring heirloom gold to melt down and reimagine, or bring a stone with sentimental value. Often, my clients who have lost loved ones prefer this option.

Yet, if you prefer to choose on-site, a curated selection of ethical stones and recycled metals will be available, and I will help you choose the right materials for your design.

All tools and materials will be provided. No prior experience is needed. This is not a highly technical workshop but a deeply personal process. All you need to bring is your presence, your hands, and a story you’re ready to honor. The piece you create will not only be beautiful—it will carry the quiet power of something that is truly yours.

Schedule a discovery call
Living room corner with a wood stove, potted plant, woven baskets, and abstract artwork on the wall.

The location, the housing & the studio

Built consciously by ourselves, the home-studio is nestled next to Earthaven, of one of the largest intentional permaculture eco-villages in the U.S. Partly off-grid and filled with custom, meaningful details, the space reflects the values of slowness, beauty, and intention that guide everything I create.

Beyond the forest, Asheville offers a vibrant contrast—an artistic town known for its sound healing journeys, organic markets, farm-to-table cuisine, and a rich community of makers and musicians. And for those wishing to weave in a visit to New York, flights are frequent and just an hour and a half away.

And around the home, you will likely see deers, turtles, and maybe even a bear if you are lucky!

A person with dark skin wearing a beige shirt is holding a wooden spoon and scooping green and black round objects from a rustic, oval ceramic bowl on a wooden table.

The philosophy

This retreat invites you into another rhythm—one where presence comes naturally, and space opens within and around you.

Far from the patterns of everyday life, surrounded by silence, trees, birdsong, and soft shifting light, your internal pace changes. Time expands. The mind quiets. You start to calm down. The environment gently invites a new kind of awareness—one that doesn’t push, but patiently unfolds.

Questions begin to surface—thoughts you do not often have time to meet. And all around, inspiration stirs quietly: the way mornings begin without urgency, the feeling of walking barefoot through the garden, the simplicity of preparing food, noticing the way the air smells before rain, watching the way neighbors live in rhythm with the land.

Here, even daily gestures feel different. You may cross paths with deer, hear the clucking of hens, or pass by the eco-village next door—alive with the beauty of care over convenience. Life here moves more slowly, more deliberately.

Each moment in the area becomes an extension of that stillness. The creative process unfolds naturally, shaped not by pressure but by presence. There is a gentle structure, but no rush. You are free to listen, to explore, to pause, and to shape something that feels deeply, quietly true.

Schedule a discovery call
A scenic view of rolling mountains covered with autumn colored trees under a partly cloudy sky.

The investment - including

An electric coffee grinder with brown coffee beans inside, viewed from above
A narrow dirt trail running through a grassy field with wildflowers, leading toward distant hills under a partly cloudy sky.
Hands handling gold jewelry with jewelry tools, on a white surface, revealing a jewelry inspection or repair process.

1 - 2 people

1x 7500.-, 3x 2625.- , 6x 1375 €.- , 10x 862.50.- incl. taxes

3 - 4 people
1x 15.000.-, 3x 5250.- , 6x 2750.- , 10x 1725.- incl. taxes

So for 2 or 4 people the total is 3750 per person
Can be deducted as professional expenses

Accomodation

– 6 days, 5 nights
– A quiet cabin entierly for you (kitchen, bathroom, fitness-room included)
– 3 x daily chef-made home-made seasonal organic meals (adjusted to your needs)

Stay & visiting around

– Private pick-up from Asheville airport
– A car at your disposal for any of your adventures
– Booklets & itinary recommendations of trails & activities to do around the studio
– Emma available to give you visits of her favorite places if desired (about 20h)


Jewelry Creation & Workshop

– Four half-days at the studio creating your custom jewelry with Emma’s guidance
– Sharings & talks about successful conscious creative business (optional & included)
– Support with your design, from start to finish (about 20h)
– All materials (silver, gold, stones, creation supplies)

Memories

– Your custom design to take home with you

– (Optional) professional photos during your jewelry creation & of your final piece (included)

Apply to the retreat

  • The retreat takes place in the quiet beauty of Black Mountain, North Carolina, nestled in the heart of the Appalachian mountains. A place to slow down, breathe, and feel deeply inspired.

  • It will be easy. Airport pick-up from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is included, and a car will be at your disposal throughout your stay—so there is no need to rent one. Whether you wish to explore nearby waterfalls or visit the local art galleries, everything is taken care of.

  • This experience is designed for 1 to 4 people—friends, couples, mothers and daughters... or even solo guests who long for reconnection. Whether you come to mark a life moment, to rest, or to create something meaningful—you will be welcomed with presence and care.

  • Yes. Your fee includes:

    – 5 nights in a private mountain cabin
    – Airport pick-up and a car during your stay
    – Organic, local groceries (with all dietary needs accommodated)
    – Optional home-cooked dinners
    – Custom jewelry creation with Emma, including the full design and crafting process
    – All materials (with the possibility to recycle family gold or include personal stones)
    – Gentle guidance to explore the region if you wish

  • You’ll receive a detailed guide after booking. But in short: soft clothes, a notebook, shoes to walk in the woods, and anything that makes you feel at home.

F.A.Q.

  • We stock your kitchen with seasonal, organic ingredients based on your preferences—whether you eat plant-based, gluten-free, or omnivore. You will have the freedom to prepare breakfast and lunch at your own rhythm, and dinners can be lovingly cooked for you if you prefer to fully unwind in the evenings.

  • Yes, absolutely. We take this seriously. Upon booking, you’ll be invited to share anything we should know—so that every detail can be adjusted to your needs, in advance.

  • None at all. The process is intimate, slow, and entirely guided. Whether it is your first time working with your hands or you are simply curious to try, you will be fully supported at each step. All that matters is your story—and your desire to honor it.

  • Yes. The retreat is thought so you can each create your own personal piece, or collaborate on one together. It’s up to you. We will discuss this in your initial call so everything is tailored to your wishes.

  • Each project is different. Some guests come with a clear idea, others with a memory, a color, or a symbol. Together, we co-create a design that feels right for you. You can bring old gold to melt, or choose from recycled materials and stones we will have on hand.

  • You are not alone in the process—I will be by your side every step of the way. Whether it is your first time working with your hands or you feel unsure about your design, you will be guided with patience, kindness, and expert care. This is not about perfection—it is about presence, meaning, and the quiet joy of creating something that feels true to you. We go at your rhythm. And if needed, I will lovingly shape certain steps by hand, so that your piece reflects your story—beautifully and faithfully.

Apply through a discovery call

"Emma is fantastic. After Sam bought one of the rings from her collection as engagement ring... We immediately thought about her when we discussed our wedding bands. We went to her with an idea and she turned it into reality. She sent us the prototypes of the rings in very short time and they were already perfect 🥰 We loved chatting with her and discussing ideas. We can't wait to have another jewellery project in our head just to work with her again." Rox & Sam

"Emma is fantastic. After Sam bought one of the rings from her collection as engagement ring... We immediately thought about her when we discussed our wedding bands. We went to her with an idea and she turned it into reality. She sent us the prototypes of the rings in very short time and they were already perfect 🥰 We loved chatting with her and discussing ideas. We can't wait to have another jewellery project in our head just to work with her again." Rox & Sam

"We called on Emma for a rather special request. We had some old jewelry belonging to my grandmother. Unfortunately, they were no longer to our taste. So my mom and my sister and I wanted to create something that would unite the three of us. As my mom already had a gold band, we decided to ask Emma to create 2 other identical bands, as well as a ring from her existing collection. Emma listened, advised and, above all, explained the whole creation process! We were really able to follow the whole process, step by step. I'm so happy to have called on her magnificent talent and creativity for this project, which was very close to our hearts. What's more, supporting a young craftswoman was essential for us."

"We called on Emma for a rather special request. We had some old jewelry belonging to my grandmother. Unfortunately, they were no longer to our taste. So my mom and my sister and I wanted to create something that would unite the three of us. As my mom already had a gold band, we decided to ask Emma to create 2 other identical bands, as well as a ring from her existing collection. Emma listened, advised and, above all, explained the whole creation process! We were really able to follow the whole process, step by step. I'm so happy to have called on her magnificent talent and creativity for this project, which was very close to our hearts. What's more, supporting a young craftswoman was essential for us."