Kintsugi Wooden Earrings / Japanese Art

An attempt to create a pair of earrings with a very popular Japanese technique kintsugi.

"Kintsugi (金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise."

Basic Material

For the body of earrings I chose an exotic wood with dark tones such as the wenge. It will give a nice contrast with the golden joinery. After I cut the plank in the dimensions I wanted, I passed it with sandpaper to have a smooth surface.

Cut the Shape

From the previous wood sheet I cut two circles! You can use a saw hole or a handsaw for the cutting. After passing with sandpaper are ready for the next step!

The "breakage"

To build the key element of this project that is the brake in the wood. I just made a crack shape in Inkscape, then I covered the wood with masking tape and with the use of a laser cutter I etched the image on the wood.

The Golden Repair

For "repairing" the broken wooden earrings I use a mixture of epoxy glue and golden metallic paint, which I applied to the the areas of breakage with a toothpick. After waiting for the glue to dry, I removed the masking tape.

The Result !

I find the result quite interesting. If you find it too, you can visit my shop to see more details about this pair of earrings and some other interesting creations!

You can click here for my shop!