OUR STORY
Lox and Chain was founded by Zak and Frei, business partners and life partners.
Lox and Chain was born with the intention to create masculine jewellery that authentically insects art, design and individuality in an industry that is saturated with monotonous feminine pieces and where male jewellery is poorly represented by tacky gym-bro chains, Hip-hop iced rings, hardcore bikey pieces and boho Bali beads. Think of us as a representation of streetwear in the jewellery realm.
Our story started after I spent months trying to find earrings for Zak. I couldn't find anything that was right so we took matters into our own hands.
[Fun fact: we only sold earrings and chains for the first few months - the Knife Fight was the first piece Zak carved in wax and it's still one of the crowd favourites]
HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
Zak and I met on Hinge in 2018 and after a few successful dates we started a long-distance relationship. I was living in the UK studying and working as an engineer and Zak slung coffees at the Boat House in Palm Beach. After a few back-and-forth intercontinental trips to the UK and Australia, I took the plunge, quit my job at Nissan, and moved to Australia in 2020.
During the pandemic, Zak lost his job and I started working on a project that required living in Dubbo for 5 days of the week. Zak was unemployed and by himself in the house all day, which led to Zak becoming really depressed. We decided to quit our life in Sydney and move back to Byron Bay where Zak grew up to start Lox and Chain together.
The idea of starting Lox and Chain had been simmering for months. Zak has been an artist his whole life and I, well I like numbers and projects, so some would say we are the perfect match. We got cracking straight away, signing up for a jewellery making course whilst both getting by on Zaks government payment (something like $350 a week) - this is how we created the first Lox and Chain pieces.
OUR PROCESS
Until September 2022, we made every single piece right from our bedroom. It was challenging to say the least. Making jewellery all day left our bedroom covered in silver dust and other compounds which wasn't healthy at all but we loved the process and learned so much.
Fast forward to now, where we still make jewellery on the balcony of our studio in Australia but now with the help of Azul, our first employee.
Recently we started delegating some of our pieces to our people in Bali.
We searched for partners for months, and it wasn't easy to find someone that could meet all our requirements: fair wages and working conditions, sustainability and the highest quality pieces. After lots of frustrations, we landed on the perfect fit, a small business that crafts jewellery from their studio in Denpasar. Not only were we blown away by the quality and the intricate craftsmanship of the pieces they made for us but what really stood out was the family-like environment that workers get to be in, something we saw for ourselves during our visits.
They have the most talented silversmiths and craftsmen so it was a no-brainer to start leaving this task to the experts and this way increase the quality and complexity of our pieces. We hope to be making 100% of our pieces in Bali by the end of 2023 and let Azul fully focus on providing the best customer service ever.
OUR PROMISE
Finally, we'd like to thank you for the love and support. Lox and Chain is exclusively about you and we are constantly trying to make your experience better by continuing to develop hotter designs, craft higher-quality pieces, create sexier packaging and deliver sharper customer service.
Our promise to you is that we will make Lox and Chain better every single day. This is a never-ending process and we hope you stick around for it.
Any questions, email us at hola@loxandchain.com
Big love,
Zak and Frei