GRAINS Sand Grain Jewelry

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER: WEAR A GRAIN OF SAND AS A STATEMENT

Wear a piece of sand grain jewelry as a reminder of the strength and beauty hidden in the smallest things in life!

The GRAINS collection captures the exact contours and texture of a real grain of sand enlarged from 8 to 25 times its original size. With precise accuracy, every curve and crevice is in place.

Grains of sand are Nature’s masterpieces. Beauties often unseen – incredible miniature wonders. Hidden in plain sight.

In the GRAINS collection, you’ll find grains in shapes you’ll recognize others new to most eyes. Sand grains from every continent, and grains of sand with millions of years of history.

WHY WEAR GRAINS OF SAND?
(and place sand in the spotlight?

The easy answer is to awe yourself and everyone you meet. Grains of sand are stunning, often unseen wonders!! Once enlarged into jewelry, their wow factor becomes visible to the human eye.

Sand connects to a sense of wonder, of recognizing that we are a small part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Grains of sand matter as parts of a whole and on their own.

A grain of sand refers to something incredibly tiny but still visible. It’s kind of a portal into the microcosms, completely invisible to the eye.

At the same time, sand refers to something unfathomably large. The sand grains on a beach or in a desert are fully visible but impossible to count. Anything larger is difficult to grasp.

Looking at grains of sand close up is a bit like looking at clouds. Spend enough time doing it, and you’ll start seeing shapes. (A phenomenon common enough to have a name – pareidolia.)

Some of the grains of sand magnified into jewelry have recognizable shapes. Others, perhaps not. But as they say – there’s more to a book than its cover. 

Beyond its physical form, each individual grain of sand can establish a connection to the place it was collected from. To every place it has traveled, all the people who have held it, and ultimately, to you. Most grains of sand travel far. They’re transformed both from and to something else over trillions of years.

In the GRAINS Collection, one grain of sand at a time gets into the spotlight. To start off, are grains of sand from each of the world’s inhabited continents—at least one grain turned into jewelry represents every continent.

You will see images of the sand grain giving your necklace, bracelet, or earrings shape in the product descriptions. For the stories behind whom collected, how the grains were created, and/or re-shaped, follow us on Instagram, where we share bits of it every now and then.

SELECTING SAND GRAINS FOR JEWELRY

It’s hard to select a few when millions of potential “jewelry grains” lay await discovery. Finding which grains of sand to be the first took a lot of work.

From hundreds of sand jars collected from every nation on earth, millions of grains in each – a few hundred sand grains were selected during the first round. Several thinnings and line-ups later, a select few got sent to a research facility for an MRI X-ray scan.

Yet a line-up later, with a jury voting on which grains to put in the spotlight and stage first – voila – the OUAW GRAINS Collection!

Earlier the chosen grains for GRAINS were dubbed one-in-a-million. I stand corrected: They’re one-in-a-quintillion!

Grab a magnifying glass, a pair of strong glasses, or simply use your smartphone, and venture to the nearest sandy location. Take a moment to explore Nature’s tiny art gallery, hidden in plain sight.

You can find individual grains in every shape and color. Grains look different and are of different materials around the world. Tiny wonders and some which you now can wear. Depending on where in the world the sand origins from, you’ll discover grains of sand:
– in any shape imaginable
– of different sizes and surface structures
– in all colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, plus transparent and all in between

SAND IS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Beyond the beauty of the individual grain and the shapes large quantities can form, there’s all we use sand for. 

Sand is one of the world’s most used raw materials. Your life would be very different without it. Sand might appear infinite, but it is scarce. It’s used in huge amounts in construction, infrastructure, and land reclamation. It’s used to filter water, make glass, in electronics and computers, pharmaceuticals, makeup, and more. 

Individual sand grains analysis can date archaeological findings, solve crimes, and follow geological changes. And sand is part of many cultural traditions. The list can continue for long.

You have likely noticed that everything at OUAW connects to sand. Single grains of sand or sand in a larger context. OUAW 🫶🏼 sand. Yet nothing is really about sand itself. Instead, it’s about connections. And sand is a great connector.

Sand connects with people, ideas, and happenings all over the globe. It connects with history, current events, industry, science, art, culture, religion, etc. And it connects to you.

SOON TO BE SEEN

A fabulous grain “art” found in the local surrounding where I’m based in Falun, Sweden, is in the pipeline. So are grains found in the Merzouga sand dunes in Moroccan Sahara – collected during the awe-inspiring yet horrifying Marathon des Sables, plus one from an iconic golf course.

WHAT DO YOU WANT NEXT?

What do you want to see next? 

How the GRAINS Collection will grow is up to you. What kind of grain, shape, or location would you want to wear transformed into a sand grain necklace, bracelet, earring, broach, or other? Make your voice heard!

Do you have sand to share? The new jewelry grain may be hidden in it! If sharing sand please include the coordinates (your smartphone likely holds the info) plus an image of the site.  Sand, even in tiny amounts, is most welcome. Please note that collecting sand from certain places may be restricted or require a permit. 

BE THE PEARL

Wearing any piece in the Grains Collection, you are the pearl as if grown around a grain of sand. All that is you; your experiences, knowledge, thoughts, worries, and more are what make you shimmer.

We hope you will fall in love with nature’s tiny wonders. Now not only hidden wonders but wonders you can wear!

P.S. We’d LOVE to see how, when, and where you wear yours. Please share your look under #OUAW