headshot of yumi obuchi wearing her own earrings in 14k gold and silver bi-metal

Obuchi is a fine jewelry brand founded by designer-engineer Yumi Obuchi.

Rooted in literary tradition and sculpted by hand, Obuchi creates modern relics for those who believe in metamorphosis, and have rewritten their own stories again and again: creators, reinventors, and dreamers forevermore.

Beyond meaphorical change, we also believe in literal transformation … many of our pieces move! In a sense, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and place the utmost importance on play.

Obuchi_

A person wearing glasses and a mask holding a small sculpted figure.

The Artist_

Yumi Obuchi was born and raised in Hong Kong, crossing the Pacific to study engineering and literary criticism at New York University. Now enjoying a slightly slower pace of life, she resides amongst the trees and mists of Seattle. 

Here, she picked up her first jeweler's torch, training under master wax-carver Joel Olson and sculptor Kirk Lang, whose tutelage sparked her fascination with kinetic sculptures. Her art evolved from text to metal, but the tensions remain the same: a love for the precision of engineering, and the imprecision of storytelling.

Obuchi’s pieces have been shown at international art collective Utility Works’ Seattle popup, with one-of-a-kind works soon to be carried in their Tokyo gallery. 

In form, each piece begins as a narrative gesture, meticulously researched for its literary symbolism, and obsessively prototyped and designed for movement (esp. the kinetic ones). The piece is then carved in wax, cast in solid 14k/18k gold or sterling silver, and set with stones chosen for their character.

In spirit, Obuchi’s stories-in-minature are shaped by shadow and shimmer, by half-remembered fairy tales, and the flutter of eyelids between waking and dreaming.

The Jewelry_

Let these vessels of memory and metamorphosis tell your story.

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