Kintsugi

'Okina Jewelry is pleased to offer traditional Kintsugi services for repairing your most precious objects.


Kintsugi
 (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.  At its heart, the art of kintsugi treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.

Kristin uses traditional Japanese techniques for all repairs, starting with urushi (漆) lacquer derived from the Rhus verniciflua plant, also known as Japanese Sumac. Repaired areas are finished with finely-powdered genuine silver or gold. The process can take up to a month from start to finish for each break.

The art of kintsugi embodies many of the values Kristin holds dear, including:

  • When things are damaged, it does not mean they are no longer useful or beautiful.
  • The scars we wear are earned from our experiences and should be celebrated, not hidden.  They are what make each object - and person - unique.
  • Objects carry the energy of the people and places they have come into contact with in the course of their existence, and have value beyond their utility or monetary worth.
  • The attempt to repair objects - or relationships - can be healing, unto itself, and often yields a more valuable product than before the "break."

Contact Kristin or use our online scheduling tool to learn more about having your object repaired.