Our Story

The Carved Story

In 2011, John & Grant started trying to make the perfect wood phone case. And today, we're still trying! We believe perfection is a process, not a goal.

Here's how we got here...

2011June
It begins...
Carved was started because we didn't want a black phone case. We wanted something unique, something beautiful and something made with natural materials. The iPhone is metal and glass, we wanted something that showed off a bit more of who we were.

The idea was to make phone cases with wood. If we wanted them so bad, maybe others did too?? We didn't exactly know how to do that, but figured that shouldn't stop us. So we dove in, and bought some machines...
2012
Our first machine!
It all started with this laser. On the other side of the room is our CNC. We had some difficulty figuring out how to use them, so we put an ad on Craigslist looking for a CNC expert to help us in the evenings. That's how we met Jerry! Thanks to him, this next photo exists...
2012May
Our first solid case!
This took us a loooong time to make. The buttons are all solid punched brass. Two part design that slides on the top and bottom of your phone.
2012July
Our first logo
This is a wood skin for the iPhone 4, the first product we actually started selling.
2013March
Our first Sk8 case
We collected a bunch of broken skateboards, ripped off the grip tape, cut them down and glued the strips together, creating a beautiful colored line pattern. For #1, we all signed it and sold it to a lucky customer.
2013June
Carved in AT&T stores!
For the summer in 2013, our cases were distributed in 200+ AT&T stores around the USA. This picture is from a custom display we built for their flagship store in downtown Chicago.
2013Dec
We start accepting Bitcoin
Yep, we used Bitcoin before it was cool :) But here's a sad story: We lost access to the wallet that stored all our bitcoin. At the time it wasn't a huge loss, but over the years it's gotten more and more painful to see it. The wallet had 5 bitcoin in it :(
2014Oct
Our first Live Edge case
We started with clear resin and some really gnarly wood. 9+ years later, we are still perfecting it each day.
2014Oct
Recognize these guys?
Yep, we knew about them before they were huge (just like the bitcoin)
2015March
Our first Wood+Resin inlay case
As soon as we saw this material, we totally fell in love with it. The infinite variety of colors, burls and swirls exploded our minds with what was possible. Almost 10 years later, this is still one of our highest liked Instagram photos ever.
2015September
Our World Map is famous
One of our customers sent us this photo of Emily Blunt just snapping a casual selfie. NBD.
2016April
The flattest yoga mat ever
I guess we must have been kind bored in early 2016 and somehow started this fun little tradition for our team. IYKYK
2016May
First day in our new (old) building
We've lived in 3 different buildings since the start, this is the third and (hopefully) final. We spent about a year renovating this beautiful 110 year old brick and timber building.
2016May
INC 500
A huge accomplishment for our team! We were listed on the INC 500 list of fastest growing companies in America in 2016.
2017June
Dude Perfect!
We made some custom cases for Dude Perfect and they were used in this scene from Real Life Tricks.
2017August
Tony Hawk! What?!
Ok we still can't quite believe this one. One day, Tony Hawk slides into our DMs and asks if we can make him a skate case. So we do what any rational human being would do. We fainted. A few hours later when we came to, we made the guy a skate case! We actually used a few of his old ridden boards to make the case. One of the coolest projects we've ever done. Here's the story and video of the process
2018November
Hunting knives
The most amazing knife you'll ever own. Forged Damascus Steel, hand ground and totally one of one. Limited stock available.
2020November
First Star Wars Monolith
I think this is our highest liked Instagram post ever. Just take a look at this beauty...
2022May
First Desk
Gary is just having some fun in the shop one day...and out pops this insane desk!
2023May
Second Star Wars Monolith
...and another top liked photo. Possibly our biggest and coolest monolith ever.
Today...And onward!
So what's next?
We've always got new ideas brewing and we love learning new things, so stay connected :)