Luxury has traditionally been associated with craftsmanship. Limited production, proximity to the material, and time spent per object were long the very basis of value.
Today, luxury is produced on a different scale. Distribution, pace and volume have changed how products are developed and launched. At the same time, interest in how something is actually made has increased. Questions about production location, method and accountability have become more important.
In this landscape, crafts take on a new relevance. This applies especially to handmade jewellery and jewellery Made in Norway, where the production method itself is part of the value.
An integrated model
At Wabi Sabi, all products are developed and produced jewellery in our own workshop in Tromsø, where design and execution take place in the same room. As jewelry designers, we have chosen to bring the entire process together, so that form, material and completion are not separated from each other.
Production is done in small batches and often on request. The collections are not phased out after each season, they are developed further and often expanded with new products.
This structure is not part of the narrative, but the foundation of our business.
Method and understanding of materials
Gold is heated to over 1000 degrees before being casted in sand. When the metal cools, the surface is worked until it has the right resistance. Small variations occur in the encounter between heat, metal and hand. Traces of the work are left behind.
In the Fjæra wedding ring, the casting edge from this process is retained. Marks from the sandcasting process become part of the expression, so that the production is not hidden, but is part of the design.
The craft is not decorative, it is structural. Beauty in the imperfect arises as a consequence of method, not just as a stylistic move.
Local production as a premise
All jewellery is produced in the workshop by our goldsmiths. This provides a direct overview of quality, material use and workmanship and makes it possible to follow each object from idea to finished form.
We work with gold and silver, precious metals that can be remelted and reused. The jewellery is designed for a long life and can be repaired or adapted if necessary. This way of working makes it possible to produce handmade jewellery in Norway with full control over every step.
Luxury today
Today, luxury is increasingly associated with integrity. Not just with the choice of materials or availability, but with the connection between idea, production and finished product.
Small-scale jewellery production is one way to work within this understanding of luxury. When production takes place in the same space as the design is developed, decisions remain close and the consequences visible.
For us, handwork is not an addition to the product.
That is the foundation of how we work.
Text by Ingrid Skaue Øines, Brand Director at Wabi Sabi
