Inception

Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

For nearly three years, those words felt less like inspiration and more like prophecy.

Because the jewel that would eventually become the Heavenly Vices Lock began as something that felt, at times, impossibly ambitious—a mechanical piece of jewelry precise enough to function as a real lock, yet beautiful enough to belong in a fine jewelry collection built on sentiment, symbolism, and storytelling.

From the first drawing to the first working sample I was truly satisfied with, the process took 914 days.

So long, in fact, that when I finally announced their completion on social media, I accidentally forgot an entire year in the timeline. That might tell you something about the journey.

There were moments when I wondered if we would ever get there.

But we did.

And when the locks finally debuted at Melee Tucson, the response made every late night and microscopic adjustment worth it. Words like genius, the Swiss are coming for you, and this kept me up all night floated through the room.

You and me both.

But the real story of the locks isn’t the struggle of building them.
It’s why they exist at all.

The Spark

For some time, I had wanted to add something new to the Love Stories Collection—a piece that felt completely fresh but still belonged in the same narrative world as our antique love tokens, customizable bezels, and revived signet rings.

Everything in that collection is rooted in the same idea:
jewelry as communication.

In the 19th century, jewelry often served as a secret language in a world where emotions were not always spoken freely. Lovers exchanged symbols, flowers carried coded meanings, and even small coins—love tokens—were engraved with initials and hidden messages.

So the question became:
What new object could continue that conversation?

The answer arrived unexpectedly.

While studying antique objects, I came across a Victorian-era padlock.

And something clicked.

A Language Hidden in Plain Sight

The 19th century was an age of invention—steam engines, telegraphs, photography. Innovation was everywhere.

But it was also an age of encoded emotion.

Flowers carried meaning.
Symbols carried intention.
Jewelry carried secrets.

That Victorian padlock sparked the idea: what if a piece of jewelry didn’t just symbolize a message—but literally contained one?

From that moment, the Lock Stories Collection began to take shape.

The concept was simple in spirit but incredibly complex in execution:
create a jewel that functions as a real combination lock, one that only opens when its hidden message is correctly aligned.

Engineering a Jewel

At the center of each lock are four freely rotating rondels that form a three-sided combination system.

Each side communicates the same word—but in a different language:

• The Roman alphabet
• Victorian symbolic imagery
• Braille

When the rondels are scrambled, the lock remains closed. Only when they are aligned to spell the correct word will the key release.

It is, in essence, a modern interpretation of the Victorian tradition of embedding secret messages into jewelry.

The locks don’t simply fasten a necklace.

They say something.

Five Words. Five Stories.

Each lock carries a different message—one that can resonate in many ways depending on the wearer.

Flor — Spanish for flower, inspired by the Victorian Language of Flowers and the poetry of romantic symbolism.

Luck — a constellation of classic talismans believed to invite fortune and possibility.

Mama — symbols of devotion, protection, strength, and unconditional love.

Love — the timeless imagery of passion, connection, and enduring commitment.

Sûre — French for safe, drawing from centuries of protective amulets and guiding talismans.

Each word opens a different narrative.

Expanding the Language

Once the locks existed, it became clear they needed companions—pieces that could be layered, collected, and combined to build a personal vocabulary of meaning.

And so the rest of the collection followed.

Modern Cartouches
Medallions featuring one of the five words engraved on one side and its symbolic imagery in relief on the other, allowing them to be worn either way.

Medals of Meaning
Smaller medallions focused on a single symbolic motif—quiet, powerful, and deeply personal.

Charming Miniatures
Ultra-delicate versions of the symbols designed for collectors who want to begin their story with something small.

Many pieces are accented with diamonds or gemstones, and many can be customized—because meaning in jewelry is never one-size-fits-all.

Together, these pieces allow the wearer to create their own Language of Symbols.

Something you dream about.
Something you wish for.
Something that guides you.

Why Braille?

The decision to include Braille as the third language came naturally.

Braille was invented in the Victorian era, and including it felt historically fitting. But more importantly, it created something unusual in jewelry.

Jewelry is traditionally visual.

Braille makes the locks tactile.

For the first time, someone who cannot see the jewel can still experience the message through touch.

No one should be excluded from the joy of jewelry.

The Long Road

Designing a jewel that functions mechanically required an almost obsessive level of precision.

Tiny adjustments.
Countless revisions.
Endless rounds of prototypes.

Every detail mattered—because if the mechanism failed by even a fraction of a millimeter, the lock simply would not work.

But if we were going to do this, it had to be done right.

And after 914 days, the final version finally existed.

For me, the wait was absolutely worth it.

And I hope, when you hold one in your hands, you feel the same thing we felt when it finally opened for the first time.

A small moment of magic.

The moment when something that once seemed impossible… finally becomes real.