Mosaic art is an important inspiration for our New Classics Collection. As you can probably tell, we truly enjoy juxtaposing different textures and colors in our pieces.
During the design process, we want you to get something unique but still want to make sure that every element included within a piece is well-balanced. You should be getting a unique design or jewelry technique showcased within but still simple enough to not steal your thunder when you are just strolling around the city.
The Glint Necklace is one of our favorites. The moment we saw the design on paper, we knew this was it! We all were internally screaming: "YES YES YES! This is her! We're making this design come to life." Trust me, we are usually not that excited in the studio.
There's something about this design that makes it modern but vintage, elegant but playful, intricate but simple. It's everything we see in our brand and life, complicated but fascinatingly perfect.
Yet....you hold your horses and we hold our screams. We got excited way too early and easily. Believing that it is an amazing design is one thing, getting it to come to life is another. It took us 6 months and so many unforeseen difficulties to get this piece to work.
We want to share with you what's behind this piece to make it truly the embodiment of resilience and optimism and what makes John (our Artisan Manager) go mad.
STAGE 1: The Design
Rhombus: A Geometric Gem
The Rhombus is a classic aesthetic symbol, and in our Glint Necklace, you can find them in different shapes, styles, and materials. They piece together an exquisite world of optical illusions. Instead of using simple straight lines, we featured slight curves to make it more vintage-looking.
STAGE 2: Metal Engraving
To add more design features, a unique metal wire drawing technique is used, which resulted in countless refinements. Early attempts, like hand drawing, left the surface uneven and inconsistent. Our wax mold also proved to be problematic in this design, with many flaws and unreliable results. Every piece just looked too rough and lines were going in different directions, resembling tree barks. But we didn't give up. Through experimentation, we perfected a hardened stamping and grinding process that creates stunning, crisp lines, adding a touch of clean-chic look to each piece.
STAGE 3: Stone Selection and Cutting
This is the part that made our artisans scream at us. (Not the same kind of scream as I previously mentioned) This piece featured 8 individual stone pieces with 5 black agate and 3 mother-of-pearl. Each of them is not only thin and small but also in irregular shapes. It is extremely hard to craft the right shape to perfectly fit into the metal encasing. They have to be perfect in dimension because the metal encasing does not allow even the slightest error. What makes it even harder is that each piece is so thin and small that they can just break easily when artisans are working on them.
"This one is a bit too small, it can't fully cover the metal."
"This piece is too large, I can't even fit it in!"
"Now they fit. Wait, the thickness of each piece is different. Can you make them with the same thickness so that from the side they look like they are on the same level...PLEASE?"
".....F@#$%^K"
"Okay, the pieces fit and the leveling is right. Ummm, this piece of mother-of-pearl, we can't use, too see through. That one has a crack on it."
So literally SCREAMING craftsmen. No doubt they are professionals with decades of experience but also mad as they found this design "ridiculous." With some detailed discussion and a lot of comforting, we finally got every piece to work.
It was hard work but very worth it. The screaming artisans were also not screaming, because when they looked at the final piece they knew it was a work of art.
STAGE 4: TAH DAH!
Piecing every part is like a puzzle game. Finding the right piece and putting them each in the right slot and slowly seeing each handcrafted piece slowly come to life is very satisfying.
When we pieced the parts for our sample piece in front of John, we were all reminded of each hardship that we encountered throughout the journey. The Glint Necklace, exactly like its name, embodies resilience and optimism.
When the world feels gray and your spirits are low, let the Glint Necklace be your guiding light. It's a subtle sparkle, a tiny constellation of hope, and can illuminate even the darkest days. Feel the warmth of its radiant energy as it lifts your mood. With the Glint Necklace, you have the power to shine, no matter what storms may come.
This is a special one.
Hey John,There's this necklace we're making.There are 8 tiny irregular black agate and mother-of-pearl pieces on it that have to fit in the metal perfectly, have to have the same thickness, and have to have no cracks. We're sure you can make it work....No, no no, not hard at allYou can make perfection happen.
