TLDR:
Our Petite Frites designs are inspired by The Bistro––the energetic and celebratory atmosphere, the delicious food and drinks, and the connection it encourages. From mood boards, to the sketching process, to the many, many CADs and samples, we landed on pieces that are truly singular. And our tennis bracelet is on the way!
FROM THE DESK OF OUR FOUNDERS...
When we started Petite Frites, we knew we wanted to design jewelry that was beautiful, luxurious, and just plain fun––statement-worthy pieces that spark conversation. (Ever walked up to a stranger to compliment a piece of jewelry?)
We were drawn to the inspirational feeling you get in places that foster community, and to us, there is no place that evokes that kind of emotion than the iconic neighborhood bistro––a home away from home where people can casually gather to catch up on the gossip of the day, stay out late drinking wine and martinis, or park up at a table alone to read and journal.
So how did we turn this intangible feeling into tangible jewelry? Here, the story of how we designed our first pieces.
THE JUMPING OFF POINT…
The design process began with describing the visuals, sounds, and textures one experiences in The Bistro and the feelings that are evoked. From there, we created a mood board of images from which we could draw visual inspiration. At this stage we realized we wanted our pieces to represent aspects of The Bistro in a more literal sense, hence “The Martini Ring”, “The Champagne Necklace”, and “The On The Rocks Studs”. We even made the interior backing of some of our pieces look like the top of a salt shaker. Below, a couple pages from our Mood Board…
SKETCHING IT OUT…
Next, we translated our ideas to paper with design sketches. Collaborating with a duo of hyper-talented (and technical) designers, we took our inspiration and ideas and turned them into detailed illustrations. Over the course of several months, many, many sketches were made, tweaked, and perfected. Some of the initial sketches are very close to the final pieces you see today, and others took off in a totally different direction. Below, we share the evolution of The Martini Ring from pendant necklace to ring.
The Martini Ring is actually derived from an early design for a necklace…
Et voilà, the final sketch for the Martini Ring…
THE TEDIOUS PART: CAD, Sample, Testing, CAD, Sample, Testing…
A CAD (computer-aided design) is a digital file that is used to bring the piece to life in a technical manner. While it may seem easy to turn a sketch into a CAD, and a CAD into a piece of jewelry, we quickly learned that the devil is in the details. We vigorously tested every piece in our collection, asking questions like, “Does this ring have too much side girth compared to the sketch?”, and “Could these earrings cause droopy earlobes?”. We tried to pry out diamonds, break clasps, and scratch all the nice things (you’re welcome!). We resized arches, swapped findings (earrings and necklace closures), and adjusted metal weights down to the smallest millimeter to land on our winners. We even tested different gold carat weights to make sure we chose the best for our pieces––and the winner was 18K recycled gold (that’s 75% pure gold for our jewelry connoisseurs) to give our pieces a substantial handfeel and gorgeous yellow hue.
THE ‘PETITE’ DETAILS...
Earring backs that lock in place, detailed chain links with adjustable sizing, and customizable enamel contrasts as seen below on our Dinner Mint Earrings, With a Twist Necklace, and Martini Ring, all in 18K recycled gold.
AND HERE WE ARE…
This design process has been a labor of love and learning. As two founders with a background in business, fashion, and beauty, the design learning curve has been steep, but that has made it all the more rewarding. We are so proud of the designs we have launched with, and cannot wait to iterate on our inspiration as we grow.
We hope that you have enjoyed learning a few things about the making of our jewelry and will continue to follow us on our ever-evolving journey!
Jackie (Petite) & Katie (Frites)