STRUGA vs Werkstatt:München — Brutalist Jewelry Compared

By Dmitry Strugovshchikov, founder of STRUGA

Werkstatt:München is a Munich workshop that built its language around hammered silver, leather and references to medieval and ancient European craft. STRUGA approaches the brutalist register from a different starting point — dark architectural Bali silver, five worlds, contemporary minimalism. Both brutalist in spirit, very different in execution. This is an honest comparison for buyers choosing between them.

By Dmitry Strugovshchikov, founder of STRUGA

Reference: Werkstatt:München official site. Material context: Sterling silver on Wikipedia.

Werkstatt:München — hammered silver from Munich

Werkstatt:München is one of the strongest names in the German tradition of contemporary brutalist jewelry. The workshop is centered on hammered, textured 925 silver — surfaces that visibly record the strikes that shaped them — combined with leather, sometimes with patinated bronze, sometimes with stones. The visual register reads as ancient or medieval: rings that look like they were excavated, bracelets that read as thicker leather-and-silver bands.

Pricing typically ranges from around $200 for a small ring to $5,000 for a heavier signature piece. The brand sells through its own e-commerce site and through a network of avant-garde retailers in Europe, Japan and the United States.

The workshop runs at a deliberate pace. New work appears periodically rather than seasonally, which fits both the ancient-craft register and the price floor. Resale market is mostly through specialized retailers rather than open marketplaces.

STRUGA — dark architectural silver from Bali

STRUGA was founded in 2018 by Dmitry Strugovshchikov; the Bali workshop opened in 2020. Every piece is 925 sterling silver, handcrafted in Bali, shipped worldwide directly from strugadesign.com. The catalog is organized into five worlds:

• Codex — architectural baseline, signet rings, signature asymmetric forms.
• Ritual — heavier symbolism: thorn, blade, mosaic, fused-cross.
• Lab — experimental work in carbon-fiber composites and meteorite.
• Dark Union — paired wedding rings, made to order.
• Island Artifacts — pieces that read as objects from a specific place.

Eleven families: Blade, Thorn, Brutalism, Carbon, Mosaic, Amulet, Signature Heart, Signature Asymmetric, Fused, Experimental, Dark Union. The price floor is $40 for an entry-tier ring; collector pieces with carbon, Seymchan meteorite or natural stones go up to $2,500+.

Comparison table — STRUGA vs Werkstatt:München

Dimension	STRUGA	Werkstatt:München
Origin	Bali, Indonesia	Munich, Germany
Founded	2018, Bali workshop 2020	Established German workshop, 2000s
Material	925 silver oxidized; carbon (Graphite); Seymchan meteorite; tourmaline, quartz	925 silver hammered; leather; bronze; stones
Visual language	Architectural, dark, contemporary brutalist	Hammered, ancient/medieval-referenced, brutalist
Catalog breadth	5 worlds × 11 families	Single workshop voice
Price range	$40 – $2,500+	$200 – $5,000
How to buy	Direct DTC at strugadesign.com, free worldwide entry tier, $19 standard 7–14 days	Direct online + avant-garde retail network
Custom service	Dark Union (paired/wedding) and Custom Order (full bespoke)	Limited custom on request
Authentication	925 hallmark, hand-finishing marks, direct-from-brand provenance	925 hallmark, workshop punch-mark, direct provenance

Where STRUGA is stronger

• Lower entry price. $40 versus $200 minimum. Both are real handmade 925, the difference is what the lowest tier of each catalog looks like.
• Architectural register. If the goal is geometric, edge-driven, contemporary brutalism rather than hammered-medieval, STRUGA's dark minimalist rings and Brutalism family are exactly that.
• Dedicated wedding-ring programme. Dark Union is built for paired wedding rings — sized individually, with options for carbon, meteorite or stone inlays. Werkstatt:München does run wedding rings but not as a dedicated public programme at the same depth.
• Material range outside silver. Carbon (Graphite palette), Seymchan meteorite, tourmaline, natural quartz. Werkstatt:München's signature secondary material is leather rather than carbon or meteorite.
• Catalog organization. Five worlds let a buyer pick a register — Codex for daily, Ritual for symbolic, Lab for experimental — without leaving one workshop.

Where Werkstatt:München is stronger

• The hammered surface. The visible strike-marks, the textured face, the lived-in feel — Werkstatt:München is the cleaner answer if that specific surface is the goal.
• Leather work. Silver-and-leather pieces with quality leather and quality silver. STRUGA does not work in leather.
• Ancient-craft register. Pieces that read as excavated rather than designed. A different mode of contemporary brutalism than STRUGA's architectural minimalism.
• European retail network. Strong physical retail presence in European avant-garde stores — relevant if you want to see and try before buying within Europe.
• Established collector following. A longer track record in the segment, with the price floor that comes with that.

When to choose STRUGA

You want dark silver with architectural or geometric character — clean edges, deliberate forms, contemporary minimalism rather than hammered-medieval texture. You want an entry price under $100. You're shopping for a wedding ring and want a dedicated programme (Dark Union) with custom material options. You want carbon or meteorite as a material option. You prefer a brand that organizes its catalog into distinct worlds you can move between.

For starting points: dark minimalist rings for the architectural baseline, the Ritual world for heavier forms, the Codex world for daily-wear silver.

When to choose Werkstatt:München

You want hammered silver — surfaces that visibly carry the marks of how they were made. You connect with the ancient and medieval European craft references. You want silver-and-leather pieces with both materials handled by one workshop. You're looking inside the European avant-garde retail world and value being able to find pieces in physical stores. Both routes are legitimate; they answer different questions about what brutalist silver should feel like in the hand.

Living Silver — STRUGA's stance on patina

STRUGA does not rhodium-plate. The darkening you see on a finished piece is part of the design — it deepens with wear, with skin contact, with environment. Werkstatt:München pieces also live with the wearer; the hammered surface holds patina differently than a brutalist polished-and-oxidized STRUGA face. Both reward time. If a stable mirror finish is the goal, neither is the right answer.

STRUGA-only material options

• Carbon (Graphite palette). Proprietary STRUGA palette in carbon-fiber-reinforced composite, used as inlay across Brutalism and Mosaic families. Carbon reads matte where silver reads light, which gives a piece two surfaces in conversation rather than one.
• Seymchan meteorite. The Kolyma 1967 pallasite — one of the most distinctive iron-meteorite varieties on earth. Used in select Codex and Ritual pieces. Each inlay has a unique Widmanstätten pattern when etched, so two STRUGA rings with Seymchan are never identical.
• Tourmaline and natural quartz. Cut and set in Codex Amulet pieces.

How STRUGA pieces are made — process in plain language

Each design starts as a model — sometimes hand-shaped wax, sometimes 3D-printed master. The model is captured in a precise rubber mould. Wax replicas are cast and refined, then become the originals for silver casting. After casting each piece is finished by hand: edges cleaned, surfaces brought to the intended texture, oxidation worked in to the level the design demands. The hand-finishing is what makes two technically identical pieces feel slightly different in the hand.

Werkstatt:München's hammered process is the inverse approach: the surface is shaped by hand directly on the metal, leaving the strike-marks as the visual record. Both methods produce serious 925 silver. They produce different surfaces because they are different processes. Neither is more authentic — they are different design choices.

Frequently asked questions

Is Werkstatt:München expensive?

It sits in the mid-to-upper segment of independent brutalist jewelry: roughly $200 for a small ring up to $5,000 for heavier signature pieces. Comparable to other European avant-garde silver workshops; lower than Chrome Hearts and Goro's, higher than STRUGA's entry tier.

Is STRUGA cheaper than Werkstatt:München?

At the entry tier yes — STRUGA starts at $40, Werkstatt:München at around $200. At the high end the two overlap. Per gram of silver the price is similar; the difference is what each brand sells at the lowest end of its range.

What kind of silver does Werkstatt:München use?

Real 925 sterling silver, often hammered to leave visible strike-marks and oxidized for a darker patina. Some pieces combine silver with leather or bronze. The brand's punch-mark and 925 hallmark sit on each piece.

Can I order a custom wedding ring from either brand?

STRUGA runs a dedicated wedding-ring programme — Dark Union — with option to add carbon, meteorite, tourmaline. Werkstatt:München handles wedding rings on request but not as a publicly marketed dedicated programme.

Both are brutalist — what's the actual difference?

Werkstatt:München is hammered, lived-in, ancient/medieval-referenced. STRUGA is architectural, geometric, contemporary minimalist. The same family of design philosophy, two distinct executions. Pick the one whose surface speaks to you.

Which is better for daily wear?

Both are heavy oxidized 925 — both will pick up wear marks and deepen with time, which is the point. STRUGA's Codex and Brutalism families are explicitly built for daily wear. Werkstatt:München's hammered rings are wearable daily but the textured surface needs slightly more conscious handling.

Where can I see STRUGA pieces in person?

On Bali at Hedonist Store and Barefoot Aristocracy. Worldwide direct shipping with the right of refusal at pickup, free over the entry tier and $19 for standard 7–14 day delivery.