The Coolest Jewellery in Sri Lanka
(We said what we said)
We’re based in Ahangama. A surfy little town on the south coast of Sri Lanka where the tuk tuks are loud, the heat is relentless, and somehow, our jewellery still stays cool. Olive Yu is the first dedicated designer boutique in the area, and we’ve been here since 2018, before the smoothie bowls, before the hotel boom, before Ahangama became a location tag.
We started as two friends—Kate and Susie—who met over a shared love of gemstones, making things with our hands, and doing things a little differently. Kate studied architecture and fell hard for the shapes, shadows, and softly crumbling charm of Sri Lankan design. Susie brought years of gemological know-how and a deep knowledge of traditional jewellery-making. Together, we started carving, casting, and experimenting with what jewellery could be—and never really stopped.
Our Philosophy
Every piece we make is crafted by hand in our Ahangama studio — with traditional tools, local gemstones, and a lot of quiet decisions you’ll never see.
We don’t design on screens or follow templates. Our process is slower, more intuitive. We let the materials speak — adjusting, refining, and reworking each piece until it feels right. It’s hard to explain. It’s not efficient. But it’s the only way we know how to work.
No two pieces are the same. We can’t (and won’t) make them in bulk. Even the simplest design — the one that looks rugged and effortless — has been through countless tiny edits. A filed edge here. A shift in texture there. Every ring, every pendant has been touched, adjusted, and quietly obsessed over.
They might look easy. They’re not.
They’re not just jewellery. They’re small works of art.
