Hello, this is Konishi.

Since last year's REFINE METAL Collection, hum has committed to make all new collections by hand forging exclusively from REFINE METAL.

]In jewelry creation with an emphasis on ‘who makes it, for whom, and how’, we have decided to renew our bridal collection.

It is a renewal where all jewelry that used to be produced by casting will be changed to forging. Needless to say, the material is REFINE METAL. With designs kept the same, the production method will be drastically altered.

We have talked about the difference between casting and forging in a recent Instagram Live, but to briefly explain again, casting is ‘a method of pouring ingots into a mold, suitable for mass production’ and forging is ‘a method of forming individual pieces of metal by pounding or stretching them’.

Even more important point is that by forging method, ‘the entire process can be completed inside the hum atelier’.

‘who makes it, for whom, and how’ －As a result of pursuing this idea, we have come to the conclusion that jewelry made by hum craftsmen one by one is the ideal, despite of a lot of time and effort.

In switching from rings previously made by casting to forging, craftsman Tsuchiya was appointed as project leader. At HUM, forging is associated with Tsuchiya.

And Tsuchiya is synonymous with forging. Tsuchiya is such a skilled craftsman in the art of forging.

For this renewal, the production process has been meticulously thought through to avoid possible errors that could occur by manual work as much as possible.

The first product to be renewed for forging is the ‘Carving Ring’ which has an impressive hand-engraved Japanese laurel pattern.

https://hum-est.com/pages/bridal_05

Only our representative Sadakiyo was able to do the engraving of this ring, but the craftsman Kanda was in charge of carving the new shop samples.

Kanda, who has been trained with specialization in Japanese engraving since joining hum, has recently started making Octagon Ring, thanks to her daily hard work.

With her skills recognized by Sadakiyo, she is responsible for the engraving of carving rings, a task that very few craftsmen can master, even though it is her second year at the company.

When you hear that each ring is handmade and each pattern is engraved by hand, you may wonder why we go to such extents.

It is true that it takes time and effort.

However, all hum jewelry cannot be made without spending due time and effort.

Of course taking a lot of time and effort is not enough, but hidden behind every work that moves people is always blood, sweat and tears of the creator.

Hum's jewelry is not mass produced, and can only be made with time and effort, which is what makes it so appealing and unique.

The expansion of Covid has convinced us that what we have been doing was not wrong, but for hum which creed is to connect the thoughts of the creator and the customer with the concept of ‘memorable jewelry’, it may have been inevitable sooner or later that hum would come to pursue handmade products.

The new line of REFINE METAL Collection, ‘THE SYMBOL OF REFINED METAL’, available since September, was announced with the following words. Jewelry that you wear with your heart...

‘Everything from sourcing of the materials to the production background must be designed.‘

‘It must be made not by machines, but by humans.’

We will continue to work with the forging process so that all of our jewelry, not limited to the REFINE METAL Collection and the bridal collection, will embody these words.

2021.10.27(wed)

‘Carving Ring’ renewal

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