They Didn't Plan to Start a Jewellery Company. Thirty Years Later, Taylor Swift Has Bought 20 of Their Pieces.
In 1995 Wade and Danielle Papin were both working full-time jobs they hated. Danielle made a bracelet to buy a pair of shoes. What followed — entirely unplanned — was three decades of building Pyrrha into one of Canada's most celebrated jewellery brands, all from Vancouver, all without outside investors.
August 6, 2026 · By Justin Plosz · Vancouver, British Columbia · Business · 6 min read read
A Pair of Shoes. A Bracelet. Thirty Years.
In 1995, Danielle Papin wanted an expensive pair of shoes. She was newly dating Wade, working a full-time job she hated, and not particularly thinking about starting a business. But she was crafty, and Wade gave her a practical suggestion: make bracelets and sell them to buy the shoes.
She made one. Her friend saw it and asked for one. Then another friend. Then another. Pyrrha — its name borrowed from ancient Greek mythology — was born in the back bedroom of their apartment, with no ventilation, no proper tools, and no plan beyond paying for footwear.
"We were totally winging it," Wade recalls. "It was so dusty. We had no ventilation in that back room. We finally asked some people in the jewellery space about what tools we actually needed."
Both were working full-time jobs. Wade had studied journalism. Danielle had studied photography. Neither had any formal training in jewellery design or manufacturing. For the first decade, Pyrrha was a side project built around experimentation — big chunky pieces, multiple metal types, new collections several times a year, sold through Vancouver's most respected contemporary jewellery boutique, Nancy Hill's Blue Ruby.
Then everything changed at an estate sale.
The Estate Sale That Changed the Brand
Somewhere in the mid-decade, Wade and Danielle stumbled upon a box of antique Victorian wax seals at an estate sale. The wax seals — ornate stamps used in the 1800s to seal correspondence — were covered in intricate symbols, phrases, and imagery that had accumulated their own centuries of meaning. Wade and Danielle thought they would be genuinely different from anything else they had done or seen in the jewellery space.
After trial and error, they settled on casting the seal imagery into silver talismans with an antique finish. The result became Pyrrha's signature: distinctive pendants that looked like they had been pulled from a very specific, very beautiful past. Each piece carried a symbol and its Victorian meaning — pieces about courage, love, strength, protection — worn by people who found something in the imagery that resonated with where they were in their lives.
"Our pieces are meaningful for them," Wade says. "People buy Pyrrha because they connect with it. That's one of the reasons we've maintained integrity — we've never paid anyone to wear them."
That last point is significant. Pyrrha has never paid any celebrity or influencer to wear its jewellery. The celebrity following the brand accumulated over the next two decades was entirely organic — a function of people genuinely connecting with the pieces and choosing to wear them.
Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift, and Julia Roberts — Without a Single Cheque
The first major celebrity connection came through Reese Witherspoon, who spotted her agent wearing a Pyrrha piece. The agent asked if Wade and Danielle had any plans to be in Los Angeles.
"We were so green," Wade recalls. "We thought, 'Let's just get down there.' So we said we were going to be in L.A. that weekend — which wasn't our plan at all."
The meeting that followed sparked an early connection with Taylor Swift, who has since bought around 20 Pyrrha pieces over the years. Julia Roberts wore a signature Pyrrha necklace in the 2017 film Wonder — visible on screen, not placed by a marketing arrangement. Witherspoon went further: she recommended Pyrrha to the California boutique Fred Segal and later commissioned Wade and Danielle to create a custom piece after wrapping her film Penelope.
Andrew Garfield is among the others who have been spotted wearing Pyrrha. None of them were paid.
The pattern matters. It is one thing for a brand to place products with celebrities through a PR agency. It is another for celebrities to find a brand and keep returning to it because the pieces carry meaning. Pyrrha's talisman collection — symbols for what people are going through, what they want to carry with them — has always lent itself to that kind of connection. The result is a celebrity following built on the same foundation as the customer base: people who found something in the jewellery that spoke to them.
Still in Vancouver. Still Fully Theirs.
Thirty years in, Pyrrha operates from a six-floor studio in Mount Pleasant, one of Vancouver's most vibrant creative neighbourhoods. The team numbers thirty people. Every part of the business — design, production, photography, sales — is managed in-house, in Vancouver.
The couple has never taken outside investment. Every decision has been made by the two of them.
"We've always been the people making the decisions and doing the designing," Wade says.
Pyrrha is B Corp certified, a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, and a certified living wage employer in British Columbia — credentials that reflect the values Wade and Danielle brought to the business from the beginning. They operated a Los Angeles boutique for several years, but the anchor has never moved. Vancouver is where the jewellery is made. Vancouver is where the founders live — with their daughter Hazel, now thirteen.
Danielle's favourite piece in the entire Pyrrha collection is the one she wears every day: one of the very first talisman necklaces they ever produced. The inscription reads: "Love conquers all."
"As people who are married and doing business," she says, "it's an important thing to stand by."
Key takeaways
- Pyrrha was founded in Vancouver in 1995 by Wade and Danielle Papin — entirely by accident, with no formal jewellery training, no business plan, and no outside investment.
- The brand's signature antique talisman necklaces were inspired by Victorian wax seals discovered at an estate sale, and have been the cornerstone of Pyrrha's identity ever since.
- Taylor Swift has purchased approximately 20 Pyrrha pieces; Julia Roberts wore one in the 2017 film Wonder; Reese Witherspoon commissioned a custom piece and recommended the brand to Fred Segal. None were paid endorsements.
- Pyrrha has never taken outside investment. All design, production, and operations are managed in-house at a six-floor studio in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
- The company is B Corp certified, a Responsible Jewellery Council member, and a certified living wage employer in British Columbia — with a team of 30 people.
- After thirty years, the founders remain committed to Vancouver as the brand's permanent home, manufacturing everything from start to finish in Canada.
Frequently asked questions
- Who founded Pyrrha jewellery?
- Pyrrha was founded in Vancouver in 1995 by Wade and Danielle Papin, a married couple who met in 1993. Neither had formal jewellery training — Wade studied journalism and Danielle studied photography. The business began when Danielle made a bracelet to sell in order to buy a pair of shoes she wanted.
- What is Pyrrha jewellery known for?
- Pyrrha is best known for its antique talisman necklaces, cast from Victorian wax seals sourced at estate sales. Each piece carries a symbol with historical meaning — courage, love, protection, and others. The brand is also known for building a celebrity following (including Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, and Andrew Garfield) entirely organically, without any paid endorsements.
- Where is Pyrrha jewellery made?
- All Pyrrha jewellery is designed and manufactured in Vancouver, British Columbia, from start to finish. The company operates a six-floor studio in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood and manages every aspect of the business — design, production, photography, and sales — in-house.
- Has Pyrrha taken outside investment?
- No. Pyrrha has never taken outside investment. The company has been fully owned and operated by founders Wade and Danielle Papin since its founding in 1995. All growth has been self-funded.
- Does Taylor Swift wear Pyrrha?
- Yes. Taylor Swift has purchased around 20 Pyrrha pieces over the years. The connection began through Reese Witherspoon's agent, who was wearing a Pyrrha piece when Witherspoon noticed it. Swift and other celebrities including Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield wear Pyrrha organically — the brand has never paid any talent for endorsements.
- Is Pyrrha a sustainable brand?
- Yes. Pyrrha is B Corp certified, a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, and a certified living wage employer in British Columbia. The company manages all aspects of production in-house in Vancouver and has built sustainability into its operations since before it became an industry talking point.
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