Mother-of-pearl manufactory

Where buttons become fine jewelry

A company in Felling near Hardegg has been producing buttons and jewelry from mother-of-pearl for more than a century and is now in its fifth generation. Visitors can not only purchase lovely items here, they can also see how the products are made.

The biggest mother-of-pearl button in the world is more than 5.3 meters in diameter. This magnificent work can be admired at RM Perlmuttdesign in Felling, next to the Thaya Valley National Park. The company is the only mother-of-pearl manufactory in Austria, the last of about 100 that once existed in this country. With hard work, innovation and visions, company boss Rainer Mattejka has successfully positioned his handicraft as the antithesis of industrially mass-produced wares. That has brought the business not only satisfied customers but also awards such as "Young Entrepreneur of 2009”, “Top Exporter of 2012“ and so forth.

In a film and in the exhibition “Centenary of Mother-of-Pearl”, visitors to the manufactory are given insights into this historical handicraft and technologies of today. After a visit to the production hall, visitors proceed to the shop, where they can purchase beautiful buttons and pieces of jewelry directly from the company that makes them. Young guests can look forward to the playground and a special “button sandbox.”

Rainer Mattejka
“Mother-of-pearl, this ’silky shawl donned by a shell', is a unique material of great iridescent diversity that we turn into special products at the manufactory in Felling!”