Inside Lockstone

Previously, we've talked about getting Vanacci off the ground with Carbon and venturing into new territory with our first watch design.

What came along next took us by surprise as it was born from a happy accident. Looking for applications for the technology, we decided to venture into jewellery with a difference: fragrance.

The concept of fragranced jewellery is by no means a new thing. However, innovation in the field stagnated as the world took on modern deodorants and similar.

We took the concept of the pomander and applied the newly created material to it. This way, we had far more freedom in terms of the aesthetic of our jewellery range as we can form any shape we want...within reason.

Focusing on a minimal approach for the overall look, Lockstone was born and we set about testing the stones, comfort and durability of the jewellery.

We wanted to work with steel which we'd grown to be very familiar with due to the evolution of Carbon but we also wanted to offer more in terms of both colour and material. Opting for both brass and copper, we then added in gold, rose gold and palladium plated Plus models. 

Once the Kickstarter had commenced, demand showed for a bracelet. So we obliged with the Black Pearl.

Moving into bracelet manufacture was yet another leap into the unknown. We started using a plastic coated steel wire as the band to hold everything together, however this proved to suffer from fatigue and ultimately failure over constant use. We experimented with many other options throughout the campaign, focusing on comfort and longevity above all. This lead us to where we are now - we use a high end stretch polymer that allows for a perfect fit on any wrist and can withstand many years of constant wear, which lives up to our 2 year warranty on all of our products.

Lockstone finished a huge success. It was a big change for us, a foray into new design areas and a whole different industry. We saw that the jewellery sector was pretty stagnant: you can go into any jewellers and buy a ring or necklace that's the same as any other company's. We wanted to offer new concepts for what jewellery can be and also offer something beyond the aesthetic: something functional, beyond just the form.