Our Story
Artist & Founder
Ancestral memory rendered in clay and gold — each piece a story carried from the Nimiipuu homeland to the hands of collectors worldwide.
Nimiipuu Tribe — Lapwai, Idaho
Studio — Lexington, Kentucky
Hand-crafted · Small batch · Slow made
01 — Meet the Artist
A life shaped by many worlds
Almeta Dellagnolo carries two inheritances: the ancestral landscape of the Nimiipuu people and an eye shaped by four continents.
Almeta Dellagnolo, jeweler and sculptor, is the founder and sole artisan behind Babaloo Jewelry. She is a registered member of the Nimiipuu Tribe, born on the reservation in Lapwai, Idaho, and her work holds both ancestral tradition and a life lived across four continents.
Her design sensibility took shape over years spent in Canada, Germany, France, and Switzerland before she settled her studio in Lexington, Kentucky, where every piece is now slow made by hand in small batches. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Who What Wear, Garden & Gun, and Western Architecture, and has been carried by the Autry Museum of the American West.
Beyond the studio, Almeta is a Founding Partner of the International Indigenous Fashion Council (IIFC) and serves as its Chief of Accessories, part of a growing global movement to elevate, protect, and champion Indigenous designers.
02 — Craftsmanship
“Each Babaloo design is inspired by the breathtaking beauty of nature and is crafted with a deep respect for the environment — so that both our inspiration and creation processes honor the earth.”
From the reservation lands of Lapwai to the studio table in Lexington, the distance between Almeta's origin and her workspace is not a rupture — it is a thread. Her jewelry braids these two geographies together: the wide Idaho sky, the remembered textures of bone and shell, the elegance absorbed through years abroad. The result is work that feels neither nostalgic nor of the moment, but quietly timeless.
Each piece is sculpted, finished and assembled by hand from polymer clay, feathers, 18k gold leaf, sterling silver, freshwater pearls, silk tassels and brass, so no two are exactly alike. Every earring post is hypoallergenic and nickel-free.
03 — Recognition
As featured in
Forbes · Who What Wear · Garden & Gun
Western Architecture · House of Coco · Cowgirls & Indians
Carried by the Autry Museum of the American West, Wolf & Badger and DOORS NYC.
04 — The Collection
Shop Babaloo
Each piece arrives as Almeta made it — slowly, singularly, by hand. Available in limited quantities. Ships from Lexington, Kentucky to collectors worldwide.
Babaloo was born from a desire to empower and celebrate all women — representation and inclusion are at the heart of everything we make. Each statement piece is eco-responsible, artisan-produced, and ethically crafted.