The atelier
Six steps, none of them fast.
Every object is made after it is ordered, to one wrist, in the order the steps are listed here. Nothing is strung ahead.
The bench is small. One person works at it at a time. The tray of stones on the left has already been through the three lights; the ledger on the right is where the piece will end. Between them is the work, and it takes as long as it takes.
Three to seven days is the honest window. Most pieces leave in four.
The making
From tray to record
- 01
01 · Select under three lights
Morning, dusk, desk lamp. A bead that only performs in one of them is set aside. We keep the tiger eye whose band travels, the obsidian whose sheen appears at an angle, the wood with an even grain.
- 02
02 · Compose the circle
The beads are laid out on the tray in the order they will be worn. Where the focal stone sits, how the barrel is weighted, which side faces the room. This is decided once, on the bench, not on the wrist.
- 03
03 · String to the wrist
Your measurement decides the bead count, not the other way round. We string to the centimetre, then check the circle against a form of your size before we go further.
- 04
04 · Close by hand
The tension is set by feel. Too tight and the circle climbs; too loose and it turns. The closure is finished by hand and hidden inside a bead so nothing shows.
- 05
05 · Rest beside selenite overnight
The finished piece is placed in its box beside a selenite wand and left, closed, for one night. We do not open it again until morning.
- 06
06 · Engrave the seal bead, seal and record
One antique-finished barrel in the circle is engraved with the atelier number and turned to sit against the inside of the wrist. In the morning the box is sealed and the number, the wrist size and the date are written into the ledger by hand. The house keeps that page for as long as the piece exists.
Materials
What the house works in
Stone. Obsidian, onyx, spinel, tiger eye, smoky quartz, hematite, agate, moonstone, clear quartz. Natural, drilled and polished, never dyed. Obsidian is glass and is softer than the quartz family; we say so on every page where it appears, and we keep it away from harder beads when we string.
Wood. Sandalwood and ebony. Wood is lighter on the wrist, warmer to the touch, and it changes. A sandalwood piece worn daily is a different colour after a year. We consider that the point.
Hardware. Where a piece carries metal, it is an alloy finished to read as antique gold or worn silver, engraved by hand-guided tool, and sealed. We do not use bright plating. Nothing on the outside carries our name.
Cord. Bracelets are strung on a dense, high-recovery stretch cord so they pass over the hand and settle without a clasp. Long strands are hand-knotted between beads on waxed thread, the old way, so that a break loses one bead rather than the strand. Either can be restrung by the house for the life of the piece.
What leaves the house
A box with nothing on the outside
Black, matte, unmarked. Inside: the piece on its cushion, a card with the atelier number and your size in ink, and a short note on wearing it. Nothing else. The box is meant to be kept; the piece will rest in it on the nights it is not worn.
Start with the wrist.
Three steps with a tape or a length of string. We confirm before we string.
Sizing guide