Do you know that feeling when a flash of inspiration or an idea just won't let you go? If you have to constantly think about it and think about how you can best realize your vision?
That's how it was with our chains.
Sarah and I love jewelry and our earrings were meant to be just the beginning. It is only a logical step that we add chains to our range.
But how should they look, feel?
What material should they be made of? We've been asking ourselves these questions and many more since we started Birdy & Bee Jewellery. And it was an exciting process…. Weeks passed from finding the form to deciding on the material and the first prototype, and of course everything was a bit more complex than we had thought.
But now they are finished and - in our opinion - beautiful :-)
In the whole finding process, we knew one thing for sure from the start: it should be handmade and high-quality chains, produced fairly and sustainably. Chains that endure, can be worn every day and grow on the heart of the owner.
Away from fast fashion, where you can buy costume jewelry for 6 euros that is broken or discolored after 10 days and that is mainly manufactured under conditions that we do not want to support under any circumstances.
Because we already have this credo with our earrings! Here, too, we attach great importance to where our adapters and backs come from.
After trying some designs as polymer clay pendants and "test wearing them", the decision soon fell on the design of our little bags. Simple, yet special. Timeless and sophisticated and definitely flattering on the wearer!
What is the next step ?
The production. So far we have made every earring ourselves, where do you start if you want to have it made?
We were lucky enough to come across a goldsmith at one of the pop-ups we visited, who makes her jewelry exactly the way we dreamed it: handmade with local products!
Sarah and I didn't hesitate for long and asked her straight away if she could imagine implementing our design for us.
So that's how the first prototype came about. It didn't work right away, because for them it was a form that had to be tried out first - so the first prototype (which we of course honor by the way) was too heavy, the form wasn't quite where it should be in the end . But that's why there are prototypes.
In the small and really romantic goldsmith's workshop in Vienna, we looked through different variants with her on how to change the surface. Because just a smooth surface was not enough for us. So we chose a vintage surface for our pendants and a hammered version.
The material: 925 silver with high quality gold plating.
And for all these reasons, our chains are not super cheap, because there is a lot of work behind them. Both on our side and especially on the side of the goldsmith!
And a quality piece of jewelry has its price, we definitely learned that from the chain project. Unfortunately, when it comes to sustainable fashion and jewelry, you can't buy or produce cheaply, because that shouldn't be the focus here.
We can't expect to snag a fairly produced dress or necklace at a bargain price.
I want to be honest we don't make commercial sales from our chains as they are far more expensive to manufacture than we thought they would be but they are well worth it. And every time we see how happy a new owner is with her newly acquired piece of jewelry, we have the feeling that we have made the right decision.
And it encourages us to continue on this path. We now also have ceramic necklaces hand-painted with gold in our range, which we also make ourselves, and there will also be news for our earrings soon :-)
We have declared war on fast fashion and this time more than ever we stick to our slogan -
Let's hang out together!!