STRUGA vs Werkstatt:München — Brutalist Jewelry Compared

By Dmitry Strugovshchikov, founder of STRUGA

STRUGA and Werkstatt:München are not the same kind of brutalist silver — they are two different executions of one design philosophy. Werkstatt:München shapes the surface by hand directly on the metal, leaving hammer-strike marks as the visual record; STRUGA casts dark architectural 925 silver in Bali and finishes it by hand into clean geometric edges. Both are real handmade 925, both deepen with wear. Werkstatt:München leans hammered-medieval; STRUGA leans architectural-minimalist with a $40 entry tier and a dedicated wedding-ring programme.

For STRUGA's own heavy bracelet language, see the Big Thorn Bracelet.

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.

- STRUGA and Werkstatt:München are two executions of one brutalist design philosophy in real handmade 925 silver, not the same brand.

- STRUGA casts dark architectural 925 silver in Bali and finishes it by hand into clean geometric edges; Werkstatt:München shapes the surface by hand directly on the metal, leaving hammer-strike marks.

- STRUGA prices run $40–$2,500+; Werkstatt:München runs $200–$5,000. Per gram of silver the price is similar; the difference is the lowest tier of each range.

- STRUGA catalog: five worlds (Codex, Ritual, Lab, Dark Union, Island Artifacts) and eleven families, with Carbon (Graphite palette) and Seymchan meteorite as material options.

- STRUGA does not rhodium-plate: Living Silver is a property of uncoated oxidized 925 that deepens with wear, not a coating or a defect.

- Dark Union is STRUGA's dedicated wedding-ring programme; direct worldwide DTC ships free at the entry tier and $19 standard 7–14 day.

By Dmitry Strugovshchikov and Ekaterina Strugovshchikova, founders 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.