Philosophy
Humans made jewelry before they made history.*
The oldest jewelry: A string of perforated shells, discovered in modern-day Morocco over 150,000 years ago **. Simple, functional, and a bit playful. We want to revive that spirit here - welcome to our world! We celebrate the dimensionality of being human – whimsy and playfulness, but also intentionality and practicality – by blending it with an art practice that predates written human history: jewelry.
Our 'design philosophy' is simple (though, that sounds pretentious itself): pieces that are wearable, fun, and work together. All pieces are designed in-house and brought to life in partnership with NYC-based casters, fabricators, and jewelers. Each partner has decades of experience in their craft, and it's an honor working with them.
* History meaning written history, which only takes us back ~5000 years! Fun fact: Our ‘cousins’, Neanderthals, also made and wore jewelry!
** Source publication (in case you want additional fun reading)
Materials
We're intentional about our metals. Our pieces are solid gold or sterling silver to hold up to everyday wear and play. We never do plated, vermeil, or gold-filled: what you get is solid metal through and through.
10K SOLID GOLD
Our core designs are built in 10k, which lets us use sturdier construction and give smaller pieces real weight and presence that punch above their size. It wears comfortably and lasts for years. Not all gold alloys are equal (some run too yellow, others too washed out), so we chose our 10k alloy for its balanced, champagne hue. It's an "in-betweener" that pairs easily with silver or other gold alloys already in your jewelry box.
14K SOLID GOLD
Our chains are made in 14k. They cover a lot more length than our core pieces, and we didn't want that extra length to add up to something heavy or clunky to wear. So instead of scaling up thickness, we scaled up gold content. This keeps richness and quality on par with the rest of the collection.
STERLING SILVER
We also offer sterling silver across every piece, for anyone who wants a cool white metal look (or to experiment with mixed metals!). It's well suited for daily wear and last for years with proper care.
Our product breakdown:
- Charms, rings, and bracelets: available in 10k solid gold and sterling silver.
- Chains: available in 14k solid gold or sterling silver.
AAPI - Founded
A note from the founder, Brittany Lai
I'm so grateful you’ve chosen to enter the world of Deova. I'm Vietnamese American, and my culture (as well as many other Asian cultures) carries the indoctrination that gold jewelry is a functional investment haven. This is valid; however, I think jewelry is too old an art form to be reduced to just an investment vehicle. I created the world of Deova to 'stress test' this: material weight, feel, and value do matter, but so does everyday practicality and expression.
I design every jewelry piece myself using CAD (computer-aided design), the contemporary industry standard. After starting at the bench with metalsmithing, lost-wax carving, and stone setting, I taught myself CAD to translate my hands-on experience into the modern, scalable design process I use for Deova today.
‘Deova’ comes from the Vietnamese words ‘đeo và’, meaning ‘wear and.’ Which, is an accurate distillation of the brand’s identity: this is more than just “wearing jewelry.”
