Behind WWAKE’s Opal Earrings

Growing up, I was always a little disappointed that my birthstone was an opal. I wished it was something fancier like April’s diamond or something a bit more colorful like July’s ruby. But lately, the opal had been everywhere, and I’m feeling a little more friendly toward October’s birthstone. I was introduced to WWAKE on our Design*Sponge trip to the Hamptons last year when we popped into Love Adorned. The store is filled with the most beautiful jewelry, textiles and ceramics, but I was drawn to WWAKE’s jewelry. Designer Wing Yau has a background in sculpture and her jewelry feels like tiny pieces of wearable art. They are so light and sculptural and breathtaking in their simplicity. Her appreciation for craft came from the three years she spent in Lima, Peru as a teenager and her time spent watching her father, who was an engineer, exercise his creativity in his free time as a painter and woodworker. Wing applies her sculptural training – gleaned from her time at RISD – in her New York studio working with a much smaller canvas, and lately she’s been all about the opal. So we asked her for a peek behind her creative process designing WWAKE’s opal circle earrings.  -Amy

Photography by Shay Platz photography