It was 3 months before our wedding and I was freaking out. Even after months of searching, I couldn’t find a single pair of eclectic bridal earrings that 1) wouldn’t hurt my ears all day from how heavy they were, 2) were ethically and sustainably made, and 3) wouldn’t break the bank. Fine jewelry made with silver and gold was too heavy and expensive, and fast fashion jewelry made with mystery alloys irritated my ears, was also super heavy, plus was most likely made with unethical labor that I absolutely didn’t want to support, especially connected to my wedding day.

Where the heck was the middle between the two!? Can I not get some high quality, lightweight earrings, that weren’t potentially made by slaves, at a reasonable price? So after scrolling through my thousandth page on Etsy to no avail, now with just 2 months left, I decided, “You know what, I’m just going to have to make these myself!” And that’s when the seed of Eclectica was planted…

Within a single month I went from sketching the design for, what would become, The ‘Moon Becomes You’ Earrings in my journal, to hand hammering my first prototype just hours before my last dress fitting to see how they’d look. And my goodness, did I fall in love. After a lifetime of loving long silver chandelier earrings but hating how they’d leave me in pain, after just those couple of hours, I had created my very first pair. And ever since? I haven’t been able to stop designing, for myself, and now, you too✨

— Hsiao-Yen (@theeteralbeginner), Founder of Eclectica