THE PROCESS
clinq always starts with a question. What is the essence of an object? What is its function? How can we combine functionality and design? Which material is the most suitable, sustainable, and durable? How can it be produced in the most intimate, responsible, and efficient way?
In response to these questions, we endlessly sketch and test ideas, from initial drawings to folding paper models to prototyping samples. We research natural and traditional, as well as new high tech materials. We educate ourselves about production methods and finishing processes, often developing our own customised tools and molds.
It can be a lengthy and laborious process until we have found the answers to all the questions, but it is also a rewarding journey that will lead to unconventional and innovative ideas.
CASE STUDY 01: THE CLINQ HAIR CLIP
Take, for instance, the hair clip: an everyday commodity that we turned it into a signature style, redesigning not only its silhouette, but its entire construction.
Inspired by techniques from texile patternmaking, we developed a patented folding process that allows us to craft a clip from a single piece of stainless steel, without any rivets or screws pulling on your hair, while also giving us the freedom to design an infinite variety of entirely new and unexpected shapes.
The result is a barrette that is ultralight, durable, and elegant, a piece of hair jewelry that can serve as a staple of everyday life as easily as it can turn into a statement piece.
CASE STUDY 02: THE CLINQ CLAW CLIP
Our latest signature style, the clinq claw clip, is driven by a material and aesthetic approach: already perfect in its functionality, we wanted to appreciate it as a piece of valuable jewelry.
Focusing on the unique properties of stainless steel, we design our claw clips from the inside out, like a miniature piece of sculpture unfolding.
As with all our accessories, our claw clips are hand-crafted. While we work with regional suppliers for laser-cutting, mirror-polishing, and plating, the magical transformation from flat pieces of steel to three-dimensional jewelry is performed by hand. With the aide of custom-engineered tools, they are assembled, folded, and tested within our studio in Berlin, step by step, piece by piece.