Our Story

 

Joy Luck began as a quest for a gift.

After looking for a simple, wearable, yet symbolic necklace for my partner’s zodiac year and turning up dry, I decided to make my own version for his birthday. Hence the Delta Necklace was born, and I began to imagine the pieces I wish I could find, ones that bridged Eastern and Western experiences earnestly and without caricature. 

I grew up rejecting many Chinese traditions in order to blend in. I heard from Chinese and Chinese-American friends alike that though their grandparents and parents wanted them to wear something auspicious, they never liked to wear red, gold, and jade. Chinese traditional jewelry was too kitschy; red was difficult to pair with clothing; chains are neutral, but red string was too much. Their reasons said to me: traditional Chinese aesthetics had no currency. 

So I asked my childhood friend Rona (who I met in Chinese school 16+ years ago), to help me start Joy Luck. Jewelry became the way to reclaim a multi-generational and multi-cultural story.

What we wear is both reflective and projective. What we want to make is something that you can wear everywhere, that can grow with you, and maybe attract some joy and luck. 

- April (co-founder)