A moth fluttering its wings. A caterpillar curling up. They are among the gentlest movements in the natural world that the Contrast Club, a jewelry brand in Helsinki, Finland, has sought to capture in a series of new interactive designs.
The 18-karat gold rings, earrings and bracelets of the Lepidoptera Collection house tiny mechanisms that generate movement in response to force — such as a stroke or a nudge — without the aid of electricity or batteries.
For example, a pair of 18-karat yellow gold earrings about an inch long and a fifth of an inch wide hang straight from the earlobes, but curl softly into hoops when touched, mimicking “the gentle way a caterpillar moves itself away from danger,” according to the brand’s website.
The movement is produced by tiny hand-built bronze and stainless steel mechanisms inside each piece. When the earring is touched, the mechanism transfers that energy throughout the shape and the segmentation of the piece’s gold casing allows it to subtly bend. The earrings are 3,600 euros ($3,709) and can be purchased through the brand’s website.
James Cole and Suvi Ellila, who founded the brand in 2022, met at Aston University in Birmingham, England, where they both earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering in 2010.
They likened the collection’s engineering-meets-artistry concept to that found in high-end mechanical watchmaking, but said that they hoped customers would consider the jewelry in a somewhat more emotional way: to be delighted, enchanted and intrigued. (And if it sparked some conversation at a cocktail party, that would be OK, too.)
“We want it to be like an experience, like something magical; something that makes you think ‘Oooh, that’s exciting,’” said Ms. Ellila, who grew up in Finland and Singapore and has, in addition to the engineering degree, a master’s degree in micro- and nanotechnology from Cambridge University.
“It was really intentional that we made the movements subtle,” added Mr. Cole, who was raised in southwest England and has a background in industrial mechanical engineering. “It’s like very intimate; something that’s personal, something that’s just between the user and the item of jewelry. You get this connection, this intimate kind of thing.”
The collection, named with the ancient Greek words for scale and wing, also features a ring resembling a moth. According to the brand’s website, it “breathes and shakes its wings when prompted, a likeness that feels alive on your hand,” and has internal mechanical parts in bronze, aluminum and stainless steel. A model crafted from 18-karat gold is priced at €4,800 while a version with a green patina is €4,500.
At their workshop in the Meilahti district of Helsinki, Ms. Ellila and Mr. Cole design the jewelry and its internal parts and produce prototypes using a 3D printer. The designs then are cast in locally sourced gold at a nearby family-run foundry; goldsmiths polish the pieces by hand; and then they are assembled at the Contrast Club workshop.
That process is especially painstaking for the Bracelet That Comes Alive (€22,000), an 18-karat yellow and white gold piece made of 130 separate parts. When a wrist is laid gently on the open bracelet, it will rise up to encircle the wrist and find its own closing position.
Emanuel Stadler of Stilami, a jewelry designer based in Vienna, tried on the bracelet in October at Milano Jewelry Week, where the collection was introduced.
People were “drawn to it, mesmerized by how it worked,” Mr. Stadler wrote in an email. “The moment I placed it near my wrist, it moved and closed on its own — like it was alive.”
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