Inspiration for The Pyrites collection

May 24, 2020

1. L o v e a t f i r s t s i g h t

What's your first impression of the gold-like gem above? 'Luxurious and elegant' or 'Shiny!' or 'Nah, this is not my kinda gems'?

The first time I came across this gem was at the small souvenir shop of Bristol Blake State Reservation, Massachusetts, in 2017. I was mesmerized by this little shiny gold gem and bought it without a second thought.

Afterward, I started researching on this beautiful gem named Pyrite and hoping to create some beautiful jewellery from it.

However, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

First of all, Pyrites are not widely sold in the local market.

Secondly, after being manufactured and shaped into beads or cabochons, it reveals the true colour of natural Pyrites - Brassy yellow with an iridescent tarnish surface. The first thought that came into my mind is that 'This colour is not going to work for the ladies ...', which could be one of the reasons why Pyrites are not popular among jewellers.

Nevertheless, we proceed to design jewellery with Pyrites anyway ... The colour of natural Pyrites beads might not be as shiny as it is in the raw mineral form but it does have great potential to be created into modern and contemporary jewellery.

Hence, I brought Pyrites back to TIS designers to see what we can create from this beautiful gem.

2. P o r t r a y s H e r A t t i t u d e

We started with this question: A lady who likes Pyrite - What are the designs she will go for?

This process of our design is to search for the fine lines between portraying Her Attitude and bringing out the intrinsic beauty of Pyrites. From my point of view, it is the most challenging part of the design process as it requires a lot of imagination and interaction with the ladies around us.

TIS designers believe that Her Style is strongly connected to Her Attitude. The little details of a person outfit 'scream' louder than he/she thinks.

Wearing jewellery that matches your attitude is equivalent to wearing the perfume that matches your character.

So... how do we search for these fine lines?

Well ... We made a few assumptions based on our first impression on Pyrites:

Subtle Luxurious and Classic

And we came up with 4 assumptions:

Formal, Subtle with nice little details

Unique, Modern and Attractive

Vintage, Elegant with a tinge of 'blinks'

Contemporary, Classy and Feminine

3. F o c u s o n P y r i t e s

i. C o l o u r s & S u r f a c e s

The next question we asked: Pyrites with?

We love designing jewellery with mixed gemstones. It has been a great idea and popular among designers!

But... the thing is... It doesn't go so well with Pyrites.

Don't get me wrong, Pyrites do have compatible gemstones to match with. For example, polished black faceted Obsidian or Citrines.

However, due to Pyrites subtle appearance, it can be easily outshined by other gemstones.

Hence, we've got to focus on Pyrites, designed to optimize the beauty of it.

From the picture above, can you guess which faceted stones we matched with our beautiful Pyrites?

Well ... You will find out in the next section!

i i. S h a p e s & F o r m a t i o n

On top of colours and surfaces, another 2 factors that contribute to our design consideration would be the shapes and the formation of the stones. A minor difference in formation and shape could possibly affect the overall visual of the jewellery.

And here we go, having fun with our little mix and match session!

4. O u r 4 a s s u m p t i o n s

i. F o r m a l , L o w - K e y w i t h n i c e l i t t l e d e t a i l s

i i. U n i q u e, M o d e r n a n d A t t r a c t i v e

i i i. V i n t a g e, E l e g a n t w i t h a t i n g e o f 'b l i n k s'

i v. C o n t e m p o r a r y, C l a s s y a n d F e m i n i n e

5. S h o p N o w

That's all for our design process! Thank you for reading our blog and allow us to share with you the inspirations behind our Pyrites collection! We really appreciate it!

If you would like get a piece of the jewellery mentioned in our blog, please click on the link below and shop now! This would mean so much to us!

https://theindividualsociety.com/collections/pyrites

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Alright, I shall stop here, is late (4.03 am), Good Night!