WELCOME TO THE KARAKAL TEMPLE 

JEWELLERY AS UNION

Karakal begins with the understanding that jewellery becomes part of the person who wears it.

It rests against the skin, follows the movement of the body, gathers warmth and patina, and becomes part of daily life. Over time, an object can become intertwined with memory, identity and experience.

For Karakal, this relationship is central to the meaning of adornment.

The jewellery is conceived as an external expression of an inner reality. It gives tangible form to qualities, experiences and aspects of the self that already exist within us.

Rooted in Indian philosophical traditions and informed by an ecological understanding of interdependence, Karakal approaches the body as part of a larger living system. The body is an ecosystem in itself, and the ecosystem extends into the body.

We are composed of the same elements, shaped by the same cycles and participating in the same web of relationships.

Jewellery becomes a point of union between these worlds.

Metal, stone, body and consciousness meet within a single object.

The talisman serves as a material reminder of what is already present within the wearer. Through touch and repetition, it can become an intimate expression of identity, memory and intention.

Karakal creates jewellery to make this relationship tangible.

WOMAN-OWNED

Karakal is an independent, woman-owned jewellery studio founded and led by Shayla Tricam.

The studio is an expression of an individual creative practice, with design, development and making held closely within the studio.

Being woman-owned speaks to the autonomy and authorship at the heart of Karakal. The studio values intuition, craftsmanship, curiosity and the freedom to develop its own visual and philosophical language.

Karakal is deliberately independent and small-scale, allowing the work to evolve slowly and thoughtfully.

This creates space for experimentation, refinement and a strong sense of personal authorship.

Each piece carries the perspective of the person who designed and made it.

ANCESTRALLY GUIDED

Karakal is rooted in a living relationship with ancestry.

Shayla’s Gujarati heritage and engagement with Indian philosophy inform the conceptual language of the studio, while its South African context gives that inheritance a contemporary and personal expression.

Ancestry provides a source of knowledge and orientation.

Karakal draws from ideas surrounding consciousness, nature, the body, transformation and the sacred. These ideas are interpreted through contemporary forms and through the experience of living between cultural and geographic contexts.

Ancestral knowledge continues to evolve as it moves through generations.

Karakal explores this movement through jewellery, considering what we inherit, what we carry forward and what emerges through our own experience.

Each piece becomes part of a longer continuum, connecting the wearer with the histories, ideas, people and living systems that have shaped them.

HAND-CRAFTED

Every Karakal piece begins with the hand.

As a self-taught metalsmith, Shayla approaches jewellery through direct engagement with material. Metal is cut, formed, soldered, textured, polished and finished by hand.

The process of making remains present within the finished object.

A surface can retain the evidence of a tool. A curve can emerge through repeated forming. A gemstone can influence the direction of a design through its natural shape, colour or inclusions.

These variations contribute to the individuality of each piece.

Karakal values precision alongside the tactile nature of making. Forms are carefully considered while remaining connected to the physical process through which they emerge.

Every finished piece carries a material history and the trace of the hands that transformed it.

INTENTIONALLY CURATED

Karakal approaches jewellery as a considered collection of objects.

Each piece begins with an idea, a question, a material or a particular quality of experience. Form, proportion, texture, symbolism and wearability are explored throughout the design process.

Collections develop slowly, with attention given to how each piece contributes to the wider language of the studio.

Karakal builds a vocabulary of enduring forms that can exist beyond seasonal trends and changing fashion cycles.

The intention is to create objects with longevity and character. Pieces that can become part of a personal collection and continue to gather meaning through wear.

Each design has a place within the larger body of work.

Together, the collections create a cohesive visual language shaped by recurring forms, materials, symbols and ideas.

ECOLOGICALLY INSPIRED

Karakal’s ecological perspective begins with an understanding of interconnection.

With a background in environmental science, Shayla approaches the natural world through an awareness of relationships, systems and interdependence.

This perspective informs the way Karakal develops form.

The studio looks to natural processes such as growth, transformation, repetition, adaptation, symmetry, asymmetry and decay. Organic forms become a way of exploring these processes through jewellery.

The snake, stone, spiral, vessel and organic curve appear throughout the work as forms through which ideas can be explored.

Nature provides a language for understanding our own existence within a larger system.

The materials themselves carry this relationship. Metal comes from the earth. Gemstones are formed through immense geological processes. The human body is composed of the same elemental matter.

Jewellery creates a meeting point between geological time, human consciousness and the living body.

You can check out a custom brass and labradorite piece featured in Msaki's music video "Born in a Taxi".

You can view a short interview of Shayla recorded in 2019 at her previous studio at Werk in the Baakens Valley, Gqeberha: