all photos by me
It started with a thin gold band - small and delicate and fine as a morning in February - dotted here and there with the tiniest of diamonds. "This is the first ring that I made. I had never seen something like this before, where the diamonds are randomnly set across the ring. So I made it and I wore it."
Jewellery designer Satomi Kawakita is sitting in her studio, cradling a cup of green tea between fingers with rings stacked high like the Empire State building. Her every movement gifts a glimpse of something sparkly and like a magpie I follow each glint - here a ruby, there a black diamond, everywhere a gem stone. "Being a diamond setter I had worked with diamonds, gold and platinum metals every day, but I had never found gold jewellery that I liked. I wanted to make something for myself. Gold and diamonds together are so classic and that's not something that I might wear myself. So I started to make rings. I showed them to my friends and they liked it. Then they started to place orders. I sold one and I made another one. Then I sold two and I made four more new rings. So that was how things grew. Slowly!"
Looking at her studio now it is hard to believe that only a year ago Kawakita was working from her bedroom late at night and carting boxes of her dainty rings to customers' homes across New York city. But a lot can change in a year. After a popular blog featured her unique engagements rings with hand-cut stones and hammered gold bands Kawakita could not keep up with demand. "Everything kept getting busier and busier ever day. Even my husband started helping me make jewellery when he moved here! I wouldn't have survived the holiday season without his help." Swamped by orders through her online store, Kawakita and her husband worked day and night. "We didn't have a day off from September to December," she says laughing. "I realised that I really have to find someone to help me."
Hiring an assistant is a big step for this Japanese-born, New York-based designer. Her independence is one of the hallmarks of her label. From the milky cognac diamonds to the wax moulds to the jewellery boxes and online store, Kawakita does everything by herself."It's not healthy working every day for a long time. I like working, but it is too much. You need a balance between staying home and relaxing and working." The balance is slowly tipping, thanks in part to Kawakita's new assistant, hired only two weeks before our interview. But, like all things that are truly important, change is difficult. "I have to learn to hire people and trust people, which is really hard. I have to be patient and I understand that it is not easy. I have made many mistakes at the beginning of my career and I need to know that it is normal to make mistakes."
One of the striking things about Kawakita's jewellery line is how beautiful her mistakes are. A former glass-blower in Japan, her eye has always been for the unique. "I like to work with small details," she says, nodding. The handmade quality of her pieces have an almost organic air - no two rings are the same, even when they come from the same mould, even when they are cut from the same stone. As wedding and engagement rings they are imbued with the kind personality and integrity that a bride dreams of, as pieces for casual, everyday wear they take on a character that is purely their own. A host of different coloured stones and remarkably stunning diamonds, from the classic to the unusual - maybe a milky grey number or a tiny black diamond, a cult favourite - characterise her range. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings complete Kawakita's canon, but her heart will always be with her first designs. "Rings are what I like to make the most," she says. "I think it is because I don't have to buy the clasps, I can make everything myself from the beginning. They are on such a small scale but there is unlimited possibility."
In keeping with her label's bespoke feel, Kawakita's design processes often begins in the thick of it. She rarely sketches or sets out mood boards, preferring to get straight to carving out designs from wax. Boxes of these litter the studio and there are even more drawers of moulds and samples. Sometimes Kawakita will see a stone that she loves or that intrigues her and the process starts from there. "I often go and check with my stone dealer to see what they have and what's new. If I find something that I like I just buy it. So I have a lot of loose stones waiting for me to design around them!" As her business grows, Kawakita has started to open up her studio to customers who are interested in more custom pieces. "For many of them it is their first time in a studio! They are always asking, what is this tool for, what does this do? Yes, it does look like a dentist's office," she laughs. "I sit down and show them how the tools work and how to set stones. Sometimes the customer is leaning over my shoulder, designing their own ring." This personal contact is one of Kawakita's favourite things, and something that she loses as more and more of her pieces are sold through her stores. "I love talking directly to customers and hearing their stories."
After more than seven years living in the city, Kawakita has found her feet. Her advice for those looking to make it in the big apple is simple. "This is a very honest city," she remarks, "if you work hard and if you love New York, New York will love you back. That's what my friend told me at the very beginning." The contrast to her homeland is striking. "Japan is more traditional," she says. "Here in New York people have their own taste and their own opinions... People are always looking for new thins and this city is so open to the new."
Simplicity in design is the most difficult attribute to attain - it is easy to follow natural instincts and over-think, especially in the gaudy world of fine jewellery. But there is a reserve and a sense of calmness to Satomi Kawakita which is, ultimately, refreshing. It is not hard to understand why her designs have become so popular. Who wouldn't want an engagement ring that was so personal the very setting itself might have been created just for you? It's a classic and romantic notion, but it is one that has been increasingly lost in the trend-driven world of fashion. As the pendulum swings back, led by the success of taste-makers including Phoebe Philo at Celine and Sofia Coppola, small brands like Satomi Kawakita have found their niche. The only question is, how high will they go?
As the pile of orders grows and the hits on her site steadily increase Kawakita is adamant that she will remain in control. Her nightmare would be having to yield any measure of creative independence to an outside party. "Some people think that my company is big from what they see on the internet, but it is quite small," Kawakita remarks. "It is growing now. But I don't want it to be too big. I want to keep it the size it is now, where I can control everything myself." Just as with that first ring - the result of that innocent, almost child-like yen to make something because you want to, and you can - Kawakita will continue to make pieces that she would wear herself, that she finds beautiful. Some things really do come full circle.
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This is the first in my series of studio visits during my time in New York, I hope you like it! Satomi Kawakita is one of the most talented jewellery designers I have ever met, and her pieces are so incredibly beautiful it is remarkable. If you have any questions or would like to place an order, contact info@satomikawakita.com
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