It's been a while! We are back with a blog post with all the deets on our Italy Collection - how it was conceptualized, designed, made, and launched this December.

Remember back when we made a few blog posts on our Italy trip? If you haven't read those travel guides, jump to them via the links below! We travelled to Italy in October 2018 and it was a life-changing experience. Not only is the country beautiful and so inspiring, it's where I got engaged to my now husband.

Italy Travel Guide: Venice | Milan & Bologna | Cinque Terre & Pisa | Florence & Tuscany | Rome

It all started from this image.

The Venetian mask of the sun & moon was the inspiration that started it all.

The beautiful city of Venice encapsulated a lot of the feelings behind this collection. I first saw the below sun & moon motif in a costume shop in Venice, where I fell in love with the history, art, and romance in Italy. Shortly after Cinque Terre (where we got engaged), the image below was etched on my skin as a memory. The inspiration flowed thereafter, and before I knew it, I was sketching on the train in between cities, while we sat down after a long day of walking, and when the rain was pitter pattering outside our hotel room.

My book of sketches were always with me on long train rides on my Italy trip

So yes - it all started from the Venezia necklace! Soon after I saw the collection of ancient coins in Rome - which provided the perfect renaissance-inspired canvas for the rest of the collection. Then came the windows of Florence (Firenze pendant), and of course the beautiful Milano hoop motifs inspired by the Duomo arches themselves.

Italians know their jewellery, so I didn't want to just design any basics. Each piece in the collection was deeply connected by my memories and the very feelings I had while in Italy, but they were also very unique. From the simple Italian chain that has flair & shine, to the signet rings and etched stacker - everything had its own romance, art, and love flowing through the jewellery. And that's the very essence of S-kin - jewellery that are meaningful, and can be passed down for generations.

An ethically made collection.

The Italy Collection marks our fifth ethically made collection, and this time we are excited to introduce some 3D pieces which created a unique challenge for our artisan team. Our Roma pendant, for example, had to be brushed by hand to get the effect that we wanted - as voted by you earlier this year on our Instagram - instead of a polished effect.

We also had challenges with the beautiful star motifs on our Stella studs & La Dominante earrings. The finish with laser engraving was not pronounced enough for each of the individual mismatched star, and so we had to double engrave these by hand to finish the earrings off beautifully.

And of course, with each production batch, we go through quality control and some pieces get rejected (more so in this collection than others due to the complex designs). The good news is, these pieces get melted down and recycled for the next batch so we can get them right.

Bela & Leni shooting our Campaign.

Shooting our campaign was also another challenge - we were on our honeymoon just before the shoot was planned, and our airbnb venue cancelled on us last minute! Thankfully, we found Jack Cottage which was the perfect backdrop to an Italian-inspired oasis/getaway.

Bela, our beautiful model, and Leni, charming photographer, were the perfect duo to pair for this campaign as they captured the Italian vibe perfectly. We went for a lot of pasta, wine, and of course, lots of sun. I love how our campaign turned out! 

Peek at our Campaign Lookbook here.

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