I first noticed Copper Junction on a necklace worn by a guy bartender at the Blue Foot. It was interesting, I was drunk. I never gave it more thought till I saw another coin necklace on a girl friend of mine. Both were made from coins that made you ponder where they were from and how old they were. Yet both were totally diffrent, one a choker made all of coins, the other a long necklace with 3 coins dangling on the end – similar to the kind worn by hipsters with thier long skeleton keys adorned. I asked them both where they got them and came upon locals Ryan and Cecelia of Copper Junction. Each piece is made up of coins from around the world hand selected and hand put together by the two. You can find pieces by Copper Junction jewelry at Mesh in North Park currently. I caught up with the two by email and asked them a couple of questions. Please read on.
Tell us all about how you guys got started with Copper Junction.
Ryan: My mother was given a bracelet made of all Francs when she was in high school. I stole it from her jewelry box really just for my own accessory needs, but when I showed Cecelia, her first reaction besides the beauty, was that we should make our own. It took us months of trial and error to come up with a finished product. From finding coins, to drilling into them, it was an arduous but fulfilling journey- figuring out how to create this art.
What are your biggest inspirations?
Cecelia: Our creative inspiration comes from a desire to create beauty in eclecticism. Each piece of our jewelry is one of a kind, which allows us to take liberty with our coin choices and design styles- thus letting art, music, film, friends, nature- everything around us act as inspirations on a daily basis. Both of us love to travel- we are inspired every day by the diversity and the beauty of the coins we work with. Ryan loves learning new languages, which for him serves as a big inspiration when creating jewelry- right now he’s learning Russian! Working with the coins of a country also offers us both a certain connection to distant lands and their history.
Where do you find your materials?
Cecelia: We get our materials from all over the place! The internet is honestly the best source for most of our materials. We also inherit a lot of coins from friends and family who travel and bring us back goody bags of change!
What do you guys listen to when you’re working on your designs?
Fiona Apple, Mozart, Cat Power T. Rex, Chopin, Omar Rodriguez Lopez ,Coco Rosie, Face and Salomea, Leadbelly, Neil Young, Feist, Zero Seven…the list goes on and on..
Ryan I hear you are in a band with your twin brother?
I am in two bands with my twin bother- Sus Hijos which is an original, progressive and robust Latin blues rock band and Magic Jackson which is a live hip-hop group composed of many, many talented musicians.
Who are your favorite designers?
Cecelia: I love Alexis Bitar (Jewelry), Marc Jacobs, Diesel, Free People, Anthropology, and thrift stores for both jewelry and clothes!
Ryan: Thrift stores, Diesel, American Apparel
Define your aesthetic sensibilities in three words.
Cecelia: Bold, Clean, Eclectic
Ryan: I can do it in two – worldly classic OR Gypsy Hip hop
Where can you find Copper Junction?
Right now, we are in the process of setting up a website- and we do custom orders for many of our customers. We are also sold in Mesh, which is an awesome boutique in North Park. Anyone can e mail us for the time being at copperjunction at gmail dot com.
If you could have one celebrity photographed wearing your stuff who would you be most excited about?
Cecelia & Ryan: Fiona Apple
Name one clothing/beauty/jewelry item you could not live without.
Ryan: White Chuck Taylors
Cecelia: Bobby Pins, Diesel Jeans.
Do you have a certain type of person that wears your jewelry?
Cecelia: People with an artistic, eclectic sense to their fashion choices tend to gravitate more to our jewelry because it is so different. It is applicable to all types of styles, however because our pieces range in shape, size and construction.
Last words??
Nope!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice interview. I would wear their jewelry.
Nice work Ryan and Cecilia. Congrats and let’s get the website up! Love your stuff.
How can I get one (especially the one you “stole” from your mom? )
Very nice article, I have always thought the jewlery was creative and different. The actual story about the original bracelet is that my father brought it home from France in WWII.
I was very happy when Ryan started wearing it and making his own version. Now look what has evolved. My Dad would be proud.