Practice
How MYJN works with sterling and fine silver, protective finishes, small runs, silver recovery and considered packaging. Designed in Petaling Jaya.
Sterling silver, S925. Fine silver, S990 and S999, for certain pieces. Eighteen-karat gold over sterling for vermeil. Rhodium on selected silver pieces. Brass plated with silver, gold or rhodium. Freshwater pearl. Qiemo nephrite. Lapis lazuli. Horn and acetate for the combs, with agate and malachite in certain designs.
The grain of horn, the colour within jade and the shape of a pearl are part of what is chosen by hand.
The metal and the finish are named on the product pages, alongside measurements and photographs from more than one angle, to help you understand the piece before opening the box.
The Antoinette was developed through tests with brass, copper, steel, nylon-coated wire and pure silver wire, until its line of jade moved as intended when worn.
A pendant that photographs well but will not stay where it should on the body is withdrawn. How a piece behaves on the body is part of whether it is finished.
Atelier gives time to more involved constructions and experiments. The permanent and seasonal collections receive the same attention to material and finish.
Designed in Petaling Jaya. Casting is carried out by partner workshops the house has worked with for years. Each piece is checked, cleaned and prepared by hand at the house before packing.
In small runs. Designs that remain in production return through pre-order between runs. Atelier pieces are made to order. A seasonal form belongs to its season and is not brought back. A design can also be retired after reaching its intended quantity.
A returned piece is never sold again. Silver from pieces that can no longer be used in their existing form is kept for recovery. Some is melted; most goes to refiners. The house also has silver refined in Malaysia for use again as fine or sterling silver.
A design can come to an end while its material still has a use.
Most silver and vermeil pieces carry a protective e-coat. Anti-tarnish treatments and clear lacquer sealants are also used according to the piece. These finishes need care: silver can darken, and gold plating gradually wears with use.
A plating that is not the colour it should be does not leave. A size or length outside the stated measurements does not leave. An embossing out of place does not leave. Those pieces go back to the bench, or they stay.
The Workshop repairs and reshapes what it can, and polishes unplated silver.
Vermeil refinishing and replating are no longer offered. Some worn pieces could not be restored to the finish the house was willing to return, even after polishing. That experience changed the service.
The Husk boxes use paper in which by-products such as cocoa husks, olive pomace, cherry stones and coffee silverskin replace part of the wood pulp. Run a thumb across it and the fibres give the surface its texture.
The boxes are made by the same sifu, year after year. Presentation varies by piece and collection; it includes kraft paper boxes, paper cards and cotton-linen pouches stitched with cotton. Smaller orders travel in plastic courier bags; larger orders use kraft paper bags.
A gift travels in many parcels. For one, Rowan designed and polished a horn comb, choosing the pattern in the horn by hand. The attention continues into the things that accompany the jewellery.
The box is made to keep. The gift is chosen to be used.
The story of the boxes
Privately held since 2017. No outside money.
This website and the house in Petaling Jaya are MYJN’s only official points of sale. No stockists, no consignment.
No colleague is asked to work overtime. When someone is busy, the work is shared.
What to make, how many, and when to stop are decided in the room where the work happens, by very few people.
These are the things the house keeps because letting go of them would make it a different house.
Drawings, cards, as they were made. Pages from the house.
