About us

The Saami have been embroidering their traditional clothing, bags and belts with a very special material for hundreds of years: tin-silver thread – an alloy of 96% tin and 4% silver, which develops a particularly beautiful patina when worn.
The material used in every saami crafts bracelet – the wound pewter thread – is produced by family businesses in Lapland.
Founded almost 20 years ago, saami crafts has taken these traditional skills, and given them a modern twist. New models are launched twice a year, and new materials are added at regular intervals. The result is a remarkable portfolio of products, ranging from the casual to the highly elegant. This allows everyone to create their personal compilation of favourites. And most customers already have their very own collection that can be extended and combined in many different ways over time.
We work with just a few selected materials and methods – yet this is the basis for a fascinating variety of creative output. Some 20 craftsmen and women, plus other professionals, contribute to our products and innovations. We are a large team, where every member has an important role to play.
Our overriding commitment is to the highest quality materials, manufacturing methods, and finish. We strive for the perfect look and feel. Accordingly, each model is only made by the craftspeople (and sometimes just a single craftsperson) with the expertise to deliver the very best results.The range of saami crafts genuine leather bracelets and other models extends from sporty to elegant to festive and invites you to mix and match.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always willing to listen and look forward to hearing from you.

Tin-silver thread

Tin is extracted from a corresponding ore by means of carbon reduction. The resultant metal has a silvery sheen, and is resistant to atmospheric corrosion caused by organic materials. However, tin pest (also called tin disease) can occur at low temperatures – but this danger can be eliminated by combining tin with other metals to form an alloy.For this reason, our thread comprises 96% tin and 4% silver. This creates a highly durable material of very high quality that can withstand even extreme cold without any deterioration.

Reindeer leather

Traditionally, tin-silver thread is employed to embroider reindeer leather. The Saami people have, since time immemorial, always tanned reindeer skins with bark, typically harvested from willow, birch and fir trees.
Currently, there is such high demand for reindeer leather that tanning is generally performed on an industrial scale by large specialist companies. Nevertheless, vegetable tanning (with bark) remains the method of choice. This ensures the leather does not contain any potentially allergenic chromium. However, it does mean slight variations in the colour of each tanned hide.
The reindeer live in the wild in the Arctic. This harsh environment leaves its mark, literally, on their skin. It is therefore very difficult to find reindeer leather that is entirely without blemishes. The biggest bane in a reindeer’s life is the warble fly that lays its larvae on the animal’s back, under the skin, until they hatch. This creates small holes in the skin. These eventually heal, but scarring often remains, visible in the form of small spots. Scar tissue is frequently thicker than the surrounding skin, and takes on more colour during tanning. For this reason, there are often variations in the colour of reindeer leather.

Buttons made from reindeer antler

All our buttons are made by hand. Unique amongst deer species, both male and female reindeer grow antlers. The antlers on a male (bull) are approximately 50 to 130 centimetres in length, and therefore much broader than those of the female (cow), which measure just 20 to 50 centimetres. The bulls drop their antlers in the autumn, the cows in the spring. Generally, reindeer only shed one antler at a time, and so temporarily bear just a single antler on one side.
The thrown antlers are collected by the Saami people, and used for a variety of purposes, including the manufacture of buttons.