The Metal Named in Scripture More Than 140 Times — and the Two Women Keeping It Alive by Hand
For years, Mae and Rose hammered pure copper the old way in a small workshop. Now, as they wind the workshop down, they’re releasing their final collection to the public — once it’s gone, it’s gone.
By Eleanor Hughes
July 7, 2026
Mae (left) and Rose (right) in their workshop. Each piece is hammered from solid 99.9% pure copper — one at a time. Picture by Thomas Reilly for The New York News
Most people have read straight past it. The word sits quietly in verse after verse of the Bible — the altar, the laver, the pillars of the temple — and almost no one stops to notice what it actually was.
The word, in the original Hebrew, is nechosheth. For centuries it was translated into English as “brass.” But two hundred years of Hebrew scholarship quietly agrees on something most Sunday readers never hear: it almost never meant brass. As one 19th-century commentator put it plainly — there is no such thing in nature as a brass mine; the word should be translated copper.
“Every time you’ve read ‘brass’ in your Bible,” Rose says, “what those faithful hands were holding was copper. Once you see it, you can’t un-see it.”
It was that discovery, years ago, that set two women on an unlikely path — and led, eventually, to a small workshop and a hammer.
A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper.
Deuteronomy 8:9
Once you start tracing copper through Scripture, it is everywhere. The first craftsman named in the entire Bible — Tubal-Cain, in Genesis — worked copper. The altar where every offering was made was copper. So was the great basin where every priest washed before approaching God, cast, remarkably, from the hand mirrors the faithful women donated at the door of the Tabernacle.
Solomon filled the temple with so much copper that Scripture says they simply stopped weighing it. The two great pillars at its doorway — Jachin and Boaz — were copper, and their names mean “He shall establish” and “In Him is strength.”
“It was chosen for the sacred and the enduring,” Mae says. “Not the flashiest metal. The one that lasted. The one you could work by hand and pass down.”
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness…” The copper serpent of Numbers 21 — the very image Jesus chose for His own cross in John 3:14.
Mae and Rose are careful about one thing, and they raise it before anyone else can. “Copper is not magic, and we would never tell you it is,” Rose says. “When Israel began worshipping the copper serpent, King Hezekiah ground it to dust — and he was right to. A piece of copper doesn’t replace prayer. It’s simply a beautiful, honest metal the faithful have treasured for as long as there has been faith to treasure it.”
We didn’t set out to build a jewelry brand. We set out to keep something alive.
— Mae & Rose
What they learned the expensive way
When Rose first went looking for a copper piece of her own, she did what most people do: she bought the cheapest one online. Twelve dollars. It looked lovely in the photo.
Within weeks the color had rubbed off at the edges, and a dull grey metal showed through underneath.
“That’s the dirty secret of the whole category,” Mae says. “Most ‘copper’ jewelry sold online isn’t copper at all. It’s cheap base metal — zinc, brass, steel — sprayed with a coating thin as a breath. It looks like copper just long enough to sell.”
There is, they discovered, one simple test that settles it for good.
The Magnet Test
Hold an ordinary refrigerator magnet against any copper piece. If it snaps to it, there’s a magnetic base metal hidden underneath — it isn’t solid copper. If the magnet won’t move, it’s the real thing. Pure copper is completely non-magnetic. Every Mae & Rose piece passes this test — not one has ever stuck to a magnet.
★ What Sets It Apart
Why their copper is different from what fills the marketplaces
- Solid, not plated. 99.9% pure copper all the way through — no hidden base metal, no coating waiting to wear off.
- Made by hand. Each piece shaped, hammered and finished one at a time. No mass production, no machine stamping.
- It ages beautifully. Real copper warms to your skin and deepens into a rich, honeyed patina no two pieces share.
- Built to be passed down. Pure copper doesn’t rust away. A piece made today will still be wearable in a hundred years.
“We just made the copper we’d want to hand our own daughters,” Rose says. “If others noticed, that was a bonus.”
What Makes It Real
99.9% Pure Copper Solid through and through — never plated, never coated.
Hand-Hammered Shaped and finished by hand, one piece at a time.
Magnet-Test Guaranteed Passes the test for genuine copper, every time.
Made to Outlast You An heirloom to hand down, the way faith is handed down.
‘Once these are gone, they’re gone’: an interview
Sitting across from Mae and Rose at their workbench, surrounded by half-finished cuffs and the soft ring of a hammer somewhere in the next room, it’s hard not to ask the obvious question first.
You’re busier than you’ve ever been. Why close now?
Rose: Because we’re not getting any younger, and neither are our hands. This work is done at a bench, one hammer-blow at a time. We could keep going for another year, maybe two — but we’d rather end while every piece still meets our standard than water it down.
Couldn’t you sell the business? Let someone else carry the name?
Mae: We were offered exactly that. More than once. And every offer came with the same quiet assumption — that we’d switch to plated metal, machine forming, a factory somewhere. Our name on something hollow. We said no. These pieces carry our name and our standards. We’d rather they end up on the wrists of women who treasure them than survive as a logo on something cheap.
So what happens to the copper that’s left?
Rose: That’s the whole reason we’re doing this. The remaining inventory — the cuffs, the bracelets, the rings and pendants — we’re releasing it all to the public directly, at up to 80% off. Once it sells through, that’s the end. No restocks. No new collections. No factory version. When the last piece ships, the workshop closes for good.
That’s a hard thing to say out loud.
Mae: It is. Writing the closing announcement was harder than either of us expected. But there’s a kind of peace in it too. We hope each piece finds the hand that needs it most.
The Closing Collection · While Inventory Lasts
The workshop is closing — the final copper is up to 80% off
Every remaining piece is solid, hand-hammered 99.9% pure copper. When they’re gone, they’re gone — no restocks, no future collections, no factory reproduction. Discounts apply automatically at checkout.
Copper worked by hand at the bench, the daily ritual behind every Mae & Rose piece. Picture by Thomas Reilly for The New York News
This is the final collection
The last Mae & Rose collection — the same solid 99.9% pure copper, hand-hammered the old way — is available now, while inventory lasts. After that, the workshop closes for good. Readers who want to see the remaining collection can visit the shop directly.
See Mae & Rose’s Final Collection
The last of their solid, hand-hammered pure copper — up to 80% off while inventory lasts.
Visit Mae & Rose’s Workshop →
✓ Magnet-Test Guaranteed✓ While Inventory Lasts
From Their Customers
★★★★★
I did the magnet test on an old craft-fair bracelet and it stuck instantly. My Mae & Rose cuff didn’t budge. It’s the first real copper I’ve ever owned, and it’s beautiful.
Patricia M.
✓ Verified Customer
★★★★★
My grandmother wore copper to church every Sunday of her life. After reading what Scripture actually says about copper, I wear mine every day now — it makes my faith feel closer somehow.
Donna K.
✓ Verified Customer
★★★★★
I bought one for myself and three for my daughters before they sell out. The copper has already started to deepen in color — they’ll have these long after I’m gone.
Margaret T.
✓ Verified Customer
★★★★★
I’ve bought ‘copper’ bracelets before that turned my grey within a month. This one is the real thing — solid, heavy, and it just keeps getting more beautiful.
Carol Whitfield
✓ Verified Customer
★★★★★
I read Mae and Rose’s story and ordered a cuff the same evening. Knowing it’s the same metal named all through the Bible makes it feel like more than jewelry.
Diane R.
✓ Verified Customer
★★★★★
Beautifully made, and you can feel the weight of real copper the moment you pick it up. So glad I didn’t wait — these won’t last.
James P.
✓ Verified Customer
Before the Workshop Closes
When the last piece ships, Mae & Rose closes for good. Readers can view the remaining collection here.
Visit Mae & Rose’s Workshop →
✓ Magnet-Test Guaranteed✓ While Inventory Lasts
Mae & Rose Jewels are handcrafted decorative jewelry pieces made from pure copper. They are not medical devices and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. Scriptural references are shared for their historical and spiritual meaning. This article is a promotional feature.
