Nora Munoz and her two sisters learned to make jewellery out of butterfly wings back in Popoyán, Columbia, where she was raised. The sisters turned the hobby into a business — Monarca Jewelry — which Munoz then brought to Edmonton, where she moved after her daughter was born. They run the Monarca brand as three separate businesses — one in Colombia, one in the United States, and the other in Canada — but with the same products and vision. Together they brainstorm new products, and provide support to one another.
We talked to Munoz to find out how she transforms delicate butterfly wings into wearable art, what makes her jewellery ethical and which species are the most challenging to work with.
Edify: What sparked the idea to make jewellery out of butterfly wings?
Munoz: It was an idea that was born from my younger sisters in Colombia 15 years ago. One of them is a biologist, and the other started a business with pressed flowers. So they started to try the same techniques with butterfly wings and I learned the techniques. I came to Canada in 2016 and it was during the pandemic that I wanted to start a business and start my own satellite studio of Monarca. We have always been a crafty pack of sisters.
Edify: You describe each piece as “ethically sourced.” Can you tell me more about what that means?
Munoz: We source our butterflies from licensed nature centres and butterfly conservatories that raise the butterflies. So we don’t catch them from the wild, and we don’t affect their ecosystems. Our butterflies are sent to us after their lifetimes when they die naturally.
Our suppliers are established eco-businesses and are strongly regulated by environmental authorities in Colombia, so they have to release a percentage of the butterflies they raise back into the wild. Butterfly raising is just one of the many efforts they do for conservation.
Edify: What are the different species of butterflies you work with? Are some more challenging than others?
Munoz: One of the most popular is the monarch butterfly that is a non-migratory South American subspecies. Another one is the Menelaus blue morpho butterfly that is a tropical species also from South America. The other one is the Madagascan sunset moth. There are some butterflies, like the blue morpho that are very delicate, so we have to manipulate it with tweezers and sometimes with needles, to not touch the blue part, because it can even show your fingerprint when you touch it, and you have these glittery scales on your fingers. So we don’t want that. It’s very challenging, but it’s also very satisfying, having developed the techniques and skills to make a product this delicate, this unique and that preserves everything as nature made it because we don’t change a colour pattern or shape.
Edify: How do you make the jewellery after you receive the wings?
Munoz: We receive the dried butterfly and we take the wings with very delicate tweezers. We use a resin to preserve it, and we can use the whole butterfly or cuttings of the wing. We don’t throw anything away. We use every piece that can be used, and that’s why we have huge earrings that can be very dangly and touching your shoulders, and small studs that can be 10 millimeters in diameter. Sometimes we’ll make a collage with the leftovers. We try to honour the creature, and honour nature, by using every single piece.
Edify: How long does it take you to make each piece of jewellery?
Munoz: When we first started it took a long time. We worked in very small batches. A single item took hours. But now I’ve learned from my sisters to do it in batches. So it’s something that can be done in bulk. Now it takes one week to make a batch.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
