I am often asked by my customers (that’s you, dear reader!) about where the jewellery we sell at Lustre comes from. This question is often followed by whether I create or curate.

Lustre initially started as a brand that curated pieces and designs from super-talented artisans who worked in tiny ateliers and workshops in different parts of the world. We have grown over the years to designing the products we sell. The challenge with this process is two fold.

First, how to take a design inspiration and have it crafted into a finished piece of jewellery in an atelier halfway across the world, without abandoning my family life. Second, how to translate the design I have in my head into a wearable piece of jewellery that I can retail for under S$300. In case you don’t know, Lustre prides itself in creating jewellery that uses natural gemstones for a fraction more than you would spend on plastic, or resin, or crystal jewellery that you could buy elsewhere. That is our USP.

So this time, I decided to write about the creative process, and, in doing so, give you a small peek behind the scenes at the creation of our upcoming line, Railroad.

The Ideas

Inspiration comes from anywhere, and you will often find me hastily typing notes into my phone, before the idea literally flies away. I especially love it when I am not even thinking of a design or collection, and the idea comes to me organically, whilst doing something else. Usually, this happens on my balcony, with a coffee in my hand. While those moments are sheer bliss, they also explain why I can be a solitary creature.

Since my inspiration is largely spontaneous, I tend not to take too much notice of what’s currently “in”, and prefer to focus on designs that are both ageless and timeless. I love the fact that the same piece of jewellery that will be worn by a 20-something year old, is also bought, worn and rocked by my older clientele. For me, that’s success.

For the Railroad collection, I was idly flicking through Pinterest (a.k.a. the black hole of time) on my phone, when I came across this photo. It showed an old railroad spike that was crafted into a knife. I loved the sheer simplicity of the spike, and a little bit of research showed that it has become something that people try and find and collect to turn into all sorts of things. The idea was born, and I decided to do away with the head of the spike and create a minimalist pair of bracelets that could be worn with singly, or with each other, or with anything else I owned.

The Drawings

Out came the paper and pencils, and I sent off the first drawing to my trusty guy who works with brass and metal alloys. These had to be rugged, really rigid, and not succumb to physical pressure. Hence, silver was out of the question. After much to-ing and fro-ing, we decided on brass with just a little bit of silver in it, to make the cuffs. This alloy proves to be strong; it takes to gold plating well and, most of all, it’s difficult to bend. This all worked perfectly for these cuffs.

The Prototypes

Two long months of photos, CAD and copper prototypes went by. All of them were wrong: too thin, too flimsy, too cheap looking. We raised the height of the cuff, adjusted the sizing, and made more prototypes.

Delivery And Photography

I finally received a single perfect sample and had him make me the pieces. Once all my pieces are delivered, the photography and post-production process starts, the collection is given a final name, is launched on social media and is listed on our lovely website.

Then, and only then, am I happy!

Railroad Cuffs are now available on our website.

Visit Anaita Thakkar’s page to find out more about her work.

_{This post was first published on Lustre Jewellery blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.}
^{Edited by Nedda Chaplin
Image credit: Anaita Thakkar}

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