about

A person swimming underwater near a sea turtle in the ocean

story

From bespoke and limited edition pieces to small collections, The Traace is faithful to crafting designs that synthesise antiquity and fossilised life as the manifest expressions of time in space. The past finds continuity with the present envisaged through a fresh, contemporary perspective.

the traace is committed to preserving the integrity of human thought and touch. Working closely with a workshop in Jaipur, the pieces are largely handcrafted by artisans using methods which are steeped in the long, rich heritage of artisan jewellers, lapidarists and goldsmiths in India. the time embedded skills of carvers in china are drawn on also in the considered treatment of varieties of jadeite. By maintaining the qualities of the maker's hand, each distinctive design becomes a testament to preserving an array of unique characteristics with present-day relevance.

Four ancient terracotta figurines with elongated bodies and animal features, set against a black background.
A vertical stack of green circular conveyor belt trays.
Blue decorative bottle with intricate carvings and a coral-like stopper.

designer and founder

Catherine Wu is an Australian designer and founder of the Sydney-based jewellery brand, The Traace. Her work gathers the various threads of her philosophy, where beautiful things of human endeavour can speak about our links with the worlds of natural processes and cultural heritage, where time and fragments of memories intersect.

Since 2015, she began creating custom and limited edition pieces for friends and clients she met throughout her travels. The Traace is an expression of those wider interconnections.

Close-up of a fossilized shell embedded in a sandy surface.

vision

A diversity of sources interconnect in Catherine's work - from her Chinese heritage and idyllic youth in outback Australia, to her global travels and love for sunny Sydney, to her background in menswear design and academic research.

As a young designer, Catherine started a self-entitled menswear label in Sydney before embarking on work as a menswear designer abroad. Her subsequent PhD in cultural evolutionary theory entitled; 'Darwin's New Clothes: a neo-Darwinian metalogic of cultural evolutionary theory', examines the ways by which we engage with the "traces" of human histories.

In forging a deeper dialogue with the past and present, Catherine works with fossils and culturally distinctive artefacts, non-precious and rare materials. Past stories are reimagined in contemporary life by incorporating hand carved gemstones, enamelling, and Old World or unusual cut stones alongside pop culture inspired graphic shapes and hues.

Filtered through her design eye for clean lines and abstraction, pieces are set in metals ranging from 9k and 14k gold, through to the icy crispness of white gold and 925 sterling silver.

An intricate necklace made of multiple strands of brown and brass-colored beads.
Large ancient sculpture of a human face with prominent eyebrows, nose, and mouth, carved from stone, displayed in a museum.
A metallic sculpture of a fish head with a large eye, lying on a dark surface.
Fossilized trilobite fossils embedded in a rock surface.
A white table lamp with a round shade and a cylindrical base next to a black hardcover book titled in gold text about a postgraduate course at the University of Sydney, with the year 2011 printed at the bottom.
Cover of Vogue magazine featuring a man in a beige suit and shirt, with a plaid scarf draped over his shoulder, standing against a clear blue sky.
Page from Vogue Australia August 1993 featuring a man in a beige blazer and red striped pants standing next to a woman in an oversized beige sweater, with a small inset photo of the woman’s face. The page includes text about Australian fashion and accessories, with the title "Vogue as seen in men." There are also illustrations of an umbrella and umbrellas with Australian motifs.