Badminton Shuttlecock … from concept to creation.
Ohm Beads design team was interested in adding some more sports related beads to their line up earlier in 2010. One sport on the short list was Badminton!
Badminton has been around since the 1800′s. Started by British military stationed in India. Currently a large chunk of the competitive badminton resides in Denmark, England, Indonesia, South Korea, and China. Badminton is currently governed by the Badminton World Federation.
Casual badminton games are found in school gyms, company picnics, backyards , and parks across the globe.
How can Ohm Beads capture the joy and essence of this sport in such a tiny design? Of course we thought of the Shuttlecock! AKA Shuttle or Birdie.
Badminton’s shuttlecock has a very distinct shape that is hard to find anywhere else in the sporting world (or anywhere else for that matter). You can see our design progression below. We started with some sketches and photos. After some review of all the different kinds of shuttlecocks we wanted something reminiscent of the true original shuttlecock, made of leather covered cork and feathers. After carving the wax mold by hand we decided that it needed to “feel” lighter. Hollowing out the top allowed you to see the bracelet sliding through and gives a sense of weightlessness. It is very important to Ohm Beads to retain as much detail as possible from concept to finished object. The feathering detail is time consuming to carve by hand. The whole bead is barely over 1 cm high! After casting in solid sterling silver and oxidizing, the final bead is hand polished. If care isn’t taken during this level of production it is easy to polish away fine details. In this case the feathers are in jeopardy. Our amazing jewelers are doing a fantastic job! We couldn’t be happier!!
We are left with another gorgeous addition to the Ohm Beads family of charms. Coming soon to a store near you.
