It's started in 1994.  May Vat, was born and raised in the USA for most her life.  She decided to take her very first journey of 8,263 miles to the kingdom of Thailand where her parents and ancestors lived.  She was stunned by the treasures the country owned; clear blue sky, thousands kinds of flavorful food and fruits, emerald colored sea, green mountains, ancient architectures, and charming cultures that reflected in every single inch of this lovely country.  May Vat fell in love with the country and kept delaying her plan to go back to her home town for years!

Not long after her first arrival in 1994, May Vat recognized that the kingdom of Thailand was not only rich in food and culture, but also in precious gemstones.  Thailand was actually one of the best jewelers in the world where there were plenty of natural gemstones sources and skillful artisans from many generations.  She was spelled by the beauty and glitter of the precious stones in Thailand!

May Vat inherited sense of art and beauty from her mom.  Her taste and eyes for jewelry have always been sharp and high class.  Back then, with little money in her pocket, she wasn't able to afford the piece of jewelry she liked.  But that never wore down her enthusiasm, she spent hours and sometimes days strolling from windows to windows and places to places where the jewelry was crafted or sold.  Just being able to see, touch, and feel it, already made her happy and satisfied!

Over the years, little by little, May Vat started to accumulate knowledge of the jewelry makings from all the stores she visited and people she met.  Some jewelers were so impressed by her genuine interest for jewelry that they were willing to educate her about jewelry.  In 1998, a kind jeweler resided in Bangkok gave her a crooked pearl which didn't have much value to the store at that time.  Most jewelers threw away such pearls as sellable pearls usually had to be round, not crooked.

May Vat was so happy about her first piece of pearl.  She celebrated by treating herself to a creamy cone of ice cream.  She got her inspiration for the design of the pearl right at the moment of her celebration!

The most attractive person is not the perfect person with zero flaw.  Rather, it's the person who is able to confidently and articulately reveal her strengths and weaknesses.  A flawless human being is a like mechanical robot.  Flawless gemstone are artificial.

While many people viewed a crooked pearl as a reject, May Vat saw a natural beauty in it.  She told her aunt in Thailand, "I'm gonna turn this crooked pearl into the most beautiful pearl with a charming flaw!".  When her first design of the pearl ring came out, her aunt and every one who saw it froze into the same reaction: they took a long speechless stare at the ring as they were seeing the most unexpected beauty.  They were very excited about May Vat's highly unique and artistic design! 

A week later, the jeweler who gave the pearl asked for her permission to reproduce her design.  The crooked pearl jewelry became one of the best sellers in her store from that point on!

May Vat usually wears her jewelry all day and everyday.  She is generally a happy person who has a sense of humor and wears a smile most of the time.  However, in the day she feels down, she usually bring her most luxurious ring to wear.  She cited "Looking at the gemstones always makes me feel amazingly better over the situation."  She might sound superstitious, but for centuries, natural gemstones were believed to have a secret healing power for human being.

Like our jewelry, our company is also handcrafted.

 

It began with the heart

Belle Chen, a chinese decendant by blood but born and raised in the kingdom of Thailand for all her life, on the contrary to May Vat, took her first longest trip out of her home country in Thailand to explore the modern world in northern America. Actually, she was a traveller since she was young and traveled across oceans to visit many countries in Asia and Europe.

 

Her passion for jewelry started when she visited the mother hometown of a big crystal factory in Salzburg, Austria at the age of 16.  She collected lots of jewelry since then and enjoyed handmaking jewelry for herself and loved ones out of threads, beads and crystals.

 

In May 1999, Belle Chen and May Vat became friends through the introduction of their common best friend.  They both dreamed to live the life the way they loved and took a bold step in quitting their secure jobs to follow their passion. 

 

For Belle Chen, she almost forgot her childhood passion about jewelry until she met May Vat again in USA in one of her later trips.  The company started off 10 months after their reunion. 

 

Dedication to our commitment

While May Vat was sketching her creative 360 degrees designs in Orange County, USA, Belle Chen tours to visit different gemstones factory, exhibitions, and gems mines in different provinces in Thailand to search for the precious stones and skillful goldsmiths and jewelry artisans. 

 

Today Belle Chen and part of our dedicated team are still working in Thailand to translate May Vat's design on a paper into a gorgeous reality. 

 

We all fully commit to our philosophy of genuineness and creativity.  Every piece of 360Jewels' jewelry is original in design and is genuine with high standard of fine18K gold and up and fine 925 sterling silver with real natural stones.  We strive to make our customers happy with our work, the way we are with it.