About Us

Our Story

CRASH Jewelry makes sustainable uni-sex jewelry from the metal of luxury automobiles like  Aston Martin, Porsche, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, Audi, Bentley, and more. Christi Schimpke, the founder of CRASH Jewelry, came up with the idea to create fashion jewelry from cars when she moved her studio into her husband’s Los Angeles body shop, Beverly Coachcraft, which specializes in collision repairs for late-model European cars. Schimpke, who has a background in art history, began working with metal when she discovered her passion for jewelry fabrication after taking metalsmith courses a few years ago. 

The vision for CRASH materialized when Schimpke was working in her garage studio. During breaks from work, she observed the gorgeous cars that arrived at the shop for repair and wondered what happened to the cast-off metal. After many months of experimentation, Schimpke discovered her own unique process of cutting, bending, and sanding the scrap metal, and CRASH Jewelry started to take shape.

Obviously, CRASH is completely different from most jewelry. At first glance, you won’t even comprehend that it is a cuff or necklace made from the discarded hood, door or quarter panel from a luxury automobile. After learning its pedigree, you will smile or laugh in disbelief. Seriously. We see this all the time, and it never fails to make us happy.

Each piece of CRASH jewelry is made by hand from cars with their original factory paint. Every item comes with a CRASH Jewelry Registration Card that states the type of car it came from and the date it was made. We take pride in ensuring that your CRASH cuff or necklace is of the highest quality, craftsmanship, and design. We also take pride in knowing that we are repurposing materials to create beautiful, luxury, eco-friendly jewelry. So, the next time you are searching for that perfect gift for the car enthusiast, the ecologically minded friend, or that family member who simply loves art jewelry that tells a story, then look no further -- we’ve got you covered.

Our Process

Every piece of CRASH Jewelry begins with metal from a door, hood, fender or quarter panel that is being replaced on a luxury car such as a Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, etc. We cut the metal into different shapes and styles which we then rigorously sand, polish and rivet. To complement our original designs, we often use stainless steel from the wheel surround of a Mercedes G Wagon, giving it a hammered texture. Other designs include semi-precious gemstones or vintage components. The last step is to add a laser-etched CRASH tag and give it a final polish before sending it out to a customer. All of our jewelry is completely handcrafted by the artisans in our studio based out of a Los Angeles body shop.

100% Made in the USA

Our products are made by artisans (who happen to love nice cars!) in Los Angeles, CA, USA.  Every CRASH Jewelry order arrives in quality recycled gift boxes with our signature CRASH logo. Open the box and you'll find your jewelry wrapped inside a soft satin or muslin bag with a CRASH Jewelry Registration Card. CRASH Jewelry is either aluminum or steel alloy depending on the car and the location from which it came, e.g., door versus hood.

All paint is original factory paint.