Everything You Need To Know About The Celebrity Favourite Jewellery Brand Telling Stories Through Symbolism
Forget wearing your heart on your sleeve; now it’s possible to recount your life story one pendant at a time…
“I have so many things in my notebooks that I haven’t shared,” reflects Beth Bugdaycay, the founder of FoundRæ and inventor of wearable journalling. “I might not ever. That’s why they’re journals,” the jewellery designer quips, noting that the process of letting her feelings and thoughts flow on paper is the starting point for her enamelled gems and precious talismans.
Beth’s medallions have enchanted A-listers like Naomi Watts, Charlize Theron, Michelle Obama and Gwyneth Paltrow who have fallen in love with Beth’s lexicon of symbols and initials that can be layered together, in a unique way to tell the wearer’s own personal story. The latter sells FoundRæ on her Goop platform and the designs can also be found on Farfetch, and bought from the brand’s own signature website.
Past collections like the Sealed Gemstones line were based on spiritual traditions from all around the world. Symbols like a lucky number seven with a heart is a reminder of the seven classic forms of love including romantic commitment, friendship and self-love. In the same vein, a snake medallion represents wholeness and balance. And while the focus of the collections continues to be medallions worn on a necklace, it also offers its symbols on rings and earrings as well.
“I am going to say that in different periods of my life, different symbols have been more important to me and I think we are constantly evolving, depending on what is happening,” says Beth. “I started with the symbolism and it was really all about drawing on something that was deeper than me. You have a knowing inside you that you are not always aware of,” she continues.
“I started with the symbolism and it was really all about drawing on something that was deeper than me. You have a knowing inside you that you are not always aware of”
Beth Bugdaycay
Beth co-founded FoundRæ with her husband Murat in 2015. They opened the brand’s store on New York’s Lispenard Street, in Lower Manhattan in a TriBeCa building. A long forgotten cast-iron warehouse built in 1867, the space is now outfitted with inviting decor like an antique roll-top jeweller’s bench and 1970s-era chairs by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli. Today, the line to get into the store often spans around the corner and FoundRæ is faced with the prospect of expansion.
“It’s scary,” the Brownsville, Texas native admits. “We want to convey a warm and inviting environment – and [with just one store] we are basically saying here isn’t enough space for you,” explains the long-time admirer of American arts and crafts, whose parents made traditional rocking chairs whilst living on the Texas border with Mexico.
FoundRæ’s website aspires to create the same sort of welcoming atmosphere as the TriBeCa shop, affording customers the chance to select a chain of different sizes, a silhouette or a pendulum connected with various loops for a variety of charms. The final step is choosing a medallion – a crab for protection, an eternal eight for karma and a lion for strength are among the powerful symbols, that turn fine jewellery into something you wear on a daily basis, rather than treasures locked away in a box.
In addition to offering unique personalised experiences, FoundRæ has recently ventured into the world of collaborations with like-minded brands such as Paravacini, the Milanese plate maker run by a mother and daughters trio of artisans. For the project, Paravacini embraced FoundRæ’s world of charms, such as compasses, crowns, and stars and the energy that those symbols conjure like passion and love to create a series of ceramic plates that echo the symbolic messaging.
In the same way, tying a string around the finger makes one reflect on something one hopes to remember, FoundRæ’s symbols draw the wearer into an aspect worthy of their attention. When you are wearing these symbols you are absorbing their power all day as you subtly tell the world your unique story.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s February 2022 issue
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@foundrae