Our Story
Cival Collective is a creative, women-owned jewelry design company whose shop extends beyond conventional bounds. As both a retail store and studio, Cival offers fully custom fine jewelry, antique restoration, and handmade semi-precious collections inspired by classic historic design imbued with modern ingenuity.
Rae Frye started Cival in 2013 and has since fostered the company to hold many other artists and designers collectively working on a variety of signature designs, antique restorations, and custom fine jewelry. As the creative director, owner, and one of the leading designers, Rae is able to use her experience and perspective to keep evolving Cival into the design house they have always dreamed of making. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Shepherd University and 14 years of jewelry design and benchwork experience, Rae’s design practice is a fusion of intuition and meticulous attention to detail and experience.
Rae’s design approach is intuitive and balanced, combining unexpected color variations and structural elements. The result creates familiar and innovative pieces, seamlessly blending the best elements from different eras to create new timeless designs. With an innate understanding of jewelry’s underlying design principles of balance, Rae’s creations are unexpected, unconventional, and color-curious. They are a conduit for personal expression and artistic exploration.
History | From Small Beginnings
The word Cival is derived from a pre-Mayan civilization and has been translated to mean “where the water meets the sea.” Cival was a topic of focus during Rae’s undergraduate study at Shepherd University, where she double majored in photography and sculpture. After graduating, Rae pivoted her focus, designing wearable sculptural pieces as a creative outlet and full-on creative obsession.
Starting with trade shows, makers’ markets, and slowly building an online presence, Cival Collective finally established a brick-and-mortar studio and retail space in the Milwaukee neighborhood of Walker’s Point in 2017. With this company expansion, Rae could incorporate other creative minds and talents into the Cival family. Nina Palacio joined Cival in 2019, working on semi-precious designs and fully custom-designed engagement, bridal, and modern heirloom fine jewelry. Nina comes with a decade of experience and is widely known as one of Milwaukee’s most talented custom designers.
Every company, large or small, should conduct its business in the most socially, ethically, and environmentally responsible manner possible. In 2023, Cival was recognized as an official member of Jewelers of America. Jewelers of America requires its members to commit annually to professional practices for their day-to-day business operations. This means that we only work with suppliers who:
- Use recycled materials in their manufacturing processes.
- Use materials sourced by individuals who received proper compensation and were free of forced and child labor.
- Supply diamonds that comply with the Kimberly Process ensures that diamonds are imported and exported with a government-validated certificate stating that the diamonds are conflict-free.
Company Beliefs | A Note from Rae
It remains to be seen if the 2020 uprisings will resolve the long-standing issues of racial injustice fought again and again on America’s streets. However, when we stand in solidarity as one, as many races march together against injustice, the arc of history may be bending toward justice again.
Decades later, we’re still facing intolerable racism, police brutality, racial discrimination, dehumanization, oppression, segregation, and staggering numbers of incarcerated black American citizens. 2020 marks the largest widespread recognition of systemic racism in our country, deeply rooted in 300 years of slavery and ethnic intolerance.
The massive resistance against the unjust treatment of people of color on every level has come to a breaking point. Today and every day moving forward, let us not go back to “normal” but stay vigilant and stand united against the system that continues to abuse its power.
Please take the time to continue to research organizations & educate yourselves (*white folks) on how to help every day. To be an ally and not a hindrance. Please do not place the burden of *your education on any of your black friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, the lady at the grocery store, etc. This is not their job, and it is not their responsibility to bear the weight of your guilt or emotional outrage either. Put your energy, your efforts, your money, and your physical labor into dismantling the systems that have failed & that continue to fail the black and non-white POC, queer, transgender & indigenous communities.
We have so much work to do. Be Kind to one another, Support one another, and Stand alongside one another. We are stronger together!