The process of designing my jewelry (and new designs launching!)

Apr 17, 2020 | 0 comments

Back in January I travelled to Berlin, as some of you guys might remember. Primarily it was because I was doing a sustainable travel guide, but I also went down to meet up with my production partner Stilnest, since their headoffice is down there. I’ve been working with them for about 1,5 years now, and I’m forever grateful for this opportunity to start my own jewelry brand and co-create my own pieces. It’s been such a fun and exciting process, and I’ve learnt a lot. Even though I’ve got a background as a designer, making jewelry is still quite new to me, but since leaving my job as a fashion designer a couple years back I must admit I do still enjoy the creative process it is to develop products like this. My job is primarily to generate the design ideas and to handle all the marketing of the pieces, so everything from arranging photoshoots to developing the entire creative outlook. But without the expertise of the Stilnest team this wouldn’t have been possible for me! I’ve been offered the opportunity to take pictures of Stilnest’s own jewelry designs for them on sort of a freelance basis on the side, which I’m quite excited about as well. They are such a wonderful team to work with, so the more we can work together the better really!

I highly doubt there will be lots more travel activity for me this year I’m afraid (if any at all, let’s be real here #covid-19) – but we have been discussing the opportunity of me joining them on a worktrip to their goldsmiths in South Germany at some point, just to get more knowledge about how the production is actually taking place. The Stilnest team is working very close with their goldsmiths (they were both on a start-up basis when they started working together actually) and then go down there a couple times during the year to visit. But to me this is an all new world, which I would love to dive deeper into. In the video of the bottom of this post I do share some clips Stilnest has send me, from the production scenes. You’ll be able to follow everything from making the molds, melting the metals to the finished product. Again, I just find this whole process so fascinating!

Tilbage i slutningen af januar rejste jeg til Berlin, som nogle af jer måske husker. Primært for at lave en bæredygtig resjeguide til byen, men også for at mødes med min produktions partner Stilnest, der har hovedkontor dernede. Jeg har arbejdet sammen med dem i ca. 1,5 år nu, og er så evigt taknemmelig for denne mulighed for, at starte mit eget smykkebrand og co-designe mine egne smykker. Det har været en sjov, lærerig og spændende proces. Selvom jeg har en baggrund som designer, så er det her med at idéudvikle smykker stadig helt nyt for mig, og på trods af at jeg for nogle år tilbage egentlig vinkede farvel til livet som tøjdesigner, så nyder jeg stadig den kreative process det er, at udvikle et produkt. Jeg står primært for idèudvikling og markedsføringen af smykkerne, så alt lige fra at arrangere photoshoots til hele det kreative udtryk. Stilnest teamet er i sandhed eksperterne og dem der bringer det hele til dørs. Jeg er faktisk blevet tilbudt, at begynde og tage billeder for Stilnest af deres egne smykkekollektioner, så det er noget jeg måske kommer til, at blive hyret til oftere fremadrettet sådan lidt på freelance basis. De er et skønt team at arbejde med, så jo mere samarbejde vi kan lave des bedre!

Jeg er lidt i tvivl om, hvor mange rejser det bliver til i år (nok ikke flere, hvis vi skal være sådan helt ærlige #covid-19) – men vi snakkede lidt om, at arrangere en tur hvor jeg kunne komme med dem ned og besøge deres guldsmede i Sydtyskland, og få større indblik i hvordan produktionen foregår. Stilnest teamet arbejder tæt sammen med guldsmedene (de var selv på start-up basis da Stilnest også var det) og mødes med dem nogle gange om året, men for mig er det en ret ny og fascinerende verden, som jeg godt kunne tænke mig, at dykke dybere ned i. I videoen nederst i indlægget har jeg sat nogle klip ind fra netop produktionen, hvor man kan se alt lige fra udarbejdelse af formene, smeltning af metallerne til det færdige produkt. Igen, synes det er så fascinerende!

On Sunday the 19th of April we’re going to launch a handful of new jewelry designs for my Scandinavia Bound collection. I’ve been wanting to add some more statement pieces to the collection for a while to make it more complete – and it’s something you guys have been asking for too. I’m so happy and proud to be able to presents to you, the new Sunrise designs (the signet ring and the large pendant necklace) and the cute, delicate Dune ring. Last-mentioned is perfect to use with other rings for a cool stacked look, or you can place it on the outer part of your finger. All designs are offered in silver, gold vermeil and solid gold, so there’s something for every budget. Of course the new Sunrise pieces in solid gold have a rather high price point, because there’s so much material used just for one piece. But again, I wanted to be able to offer something for all types of budgets. It’s important to take good care of your pieces no matter what, so that they will last in the long run – no matter what material you choose! Read more HERE under care & repair, where you’ll be able to read more about the services we offer, should your jewelry need to be re-plated or similar.

The new satellite chain (the one with the small bubbles), is made to fit all the existing pendants, and not just the new Sunrise pendant. It’s available in two lengths and in 925 silver or 24 karat gold vermeil. Sadly there’s a small risk, that the pendants you already have might not slide on to the chain right away. This is a fault from the production during the polishing process. After polishing, even if the eyelet of the pendant is 0,1 wider than what the design file indicates, it won’t be able to fit on the new chain. So since this is a fault from production we do offer a free-of-charge service, so you can send the pendants that might not fit back to us and get them polished so they will fit the chain. You can send an email to care@stilnest.com should this against expectation happen to you, then they will help you. <3 I’m so sorry for the inconvenience this might cause for some of you, but I hope you understand that these things can happen!

Søndag d. 19 april lancerer vi en håndfuld nye smykker til min Scandinavia Bound kollektion. Jeg har længe gerne villet tilføje et par statement smykker til kollektionen, for at gøre den mere komplet – og det er også noget I har efterspurgt. Så jeg er bare så glad og stolt over, at kunne vise jer de nye Sunrise designs (signet ringen og halskæden), samt den fine, delikate Dune ring. Sidstnævnte er perfekt til, at bruge som ekstra lag oven på andre ringe, eller på de yderste led af fingrene. Vi tilbyder som altid de nye designs i både sølv, guldbelagt sølv og ægte guld, så der er lidt til et hvert budget. Det er klart at smykkerne i ægte guld (især på den nye halskæde og ring) er ret høj, da det er meget materiale der skal bruges på ét enkelt smykke. Men igen, der er lidt at vælge imellem til alle typer budgetter. Vigtigst af alt er, at man passer på dem så de kan holde længe – uanset hvilket materiale man vælger! Læs mere HER under care & repair, hvor der står lidt mere om den service vi tilbyder, hvis dine smykker trænger til at blive opfrisket.

Den nye satellit kæde (den med de små “kugler”), er lavet så den passer til de eksisterende vedhæng og altså ikke kun det nye Sunrise vedhæng. Den kommer i to længder og enten i 925 sølv eller 24 karat guldbelagt sølv. Desværre kan der være en risiko for, at de vedhæng du har i forvejen ikke er blevet slebet nok i produktionen, og selv hvis de er 0,1 mm for tykke i hullet, så er det lige akkurat nok til, at de ikke vil kunne passe på den nye kæde. Vi tilbyder derfor, at man kan sende sit vedhæng retur til os og få det slebet, hvis det ikke passer på den nye kæde. Skriv til care@stilnest.com, hvis dette mod forventning skulle være tilfældet. Så hjælper de dig videre i forløbet. <3 Er rigtig ked af måske at måtte ubelejlige nogle af jer, men håber I forstår, at den slags desværre kan ske! Alle nye vedhæng købt her i April burde passe uden problemer.

The thing that is most important for me when designing jewelry, is the overall style and expression of the pieces. I want to offer jewelry that is lovely to look at and use, which is made in high quality, is timeless and can stand the test of time – but that can also offer you a little something extra (like the idea of our mix & match concept). The symbolic meaning of the new Sunrise designs is hope, light and the promise of another tomorrow. To always have faith in a new day and new beginnings. And honestly, it couldn’t fit the current state of the world more perfectly I think.

I hope you guys love the new designs just as much as I do! They will be up on the shop on Sunday the 19th of April 2020 as I mentioned, and I can’t wait to hear what you all think! <3 I also hope you found it interesting getting a glimpse behind the scenes (mostly through the vlog down below).

Først og fremmest er selve stilen og udtrykket af smykkerne det vigtigste for mig i hele processen. Jeg vil gerne tilbyde smykker som er skønne at se på og bruge, som er i god kvalitet, er tidløse og kan holde længe – men som også kan ét eller andet ekstra ordinært (som fx vores mix & match koncept). Symbolikken i de nye Sunrise designs er håb, lys og troen på i morgen. Troen på, at der kommer en ny, bedre dag. Og ærligt, så passer det ikke mere perfekt, når man tænker på den situation vi alle står i lige nu, midt i virvaret med virussen.

Jeg håber I er lige så tossede med de nye designs, som jeg er! De lander som sagt på shoppen søndag d. 19 april 2020, og jeg glæder mig til at høre hvad I synes! <3 Udover det håber jeg I synes det var spændende, at komme med bagom processen (primært gennem videoen her).

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