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22k Gold Plated Green Zinnia Flower Pendant from Thailand - Zinnia Charm in Green
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Add a floral accent to your look with this gorgeous pendant necklace from Thailand. Danai works with local artisans to create this stunning necklace, with a dyed green zinnia flower coated in resin lacquer that is suspended from a 22k gold-plated brass chain. Zinnia flowers are quite extraordinary, as they are the first flower to ever bloom outside of Earth's biosphere on the International Space Station. Beautifully special, no two zinnia pendants will look exactly the same due to natural flowers being used.
- Dyed natural zinnia flower in resin lacquer, 22k gold plated brass
- 0.08 oz
- 18.5 inches L
- 2 mm W
- Pendant(s): 1.3 inches L x 1.4 inches W x 0.4 inches D
THE STORY BEHIND THE PRODUCT
Artisan Organization: Danai
Country: Thailand
"My name is Danai Leosawathiphong. I was born March 20, 1949 in northern Thailand. My grandfather was a Chinese immigrant from the Canton province. He emigrated to Thailand at the end of the 19th century when he was in his early twenties. He was a very hard working person trading goods all along the river and during that time he met my partner's grandfather.
"I studied business and left for England. Engineering interested me, and I graduated with an engineering degree from Leeds University. I met Ilkay, my wife there. She went to Brunel University where she graduated in polymer science.
"In 1976, Ilkay and I came back to Thailand. Originally my family and partner's family planned to get into mining. And in order to analyze the rocks, ores and minerals, we needed to set up a lab. Then my partner's father suggested that we could also use the lab to create something representative of the area, and we came up with the idea of covering natural products such as exotic flowers and plants with gold. Well, the easiest way was to experiment with copper.
"So we started electro-plating products. We got a small bathtub, filled it with an electrolytic solution and placed anodes in there. We placed flowers in as cathodes wired to a DC rectifier and went home. Of course, we could not wait to see the results, so we came back at 2 or 3 in the morning. Yes, the flower should be nice by now. We took them out and… Wow! Only the wires were left! We tried and tried until we had our first flower covered with metal, but it really looked like a shrimp. So this experimenting lasted about two years. We had to start working professionally, because our process is not electro-plating, but rather electro-forming. Basically with electro-forming the layer of plating is much thicker and the surface better leveled than with electro-plating.
"It was a very demanding and challenging time for Ilkay and me because there were so many details involved in trying to get our products off the ground, working on packaging and advertising, etc. We had to run this activity like a proper business and, with our scientific backgrounds, this was another challenge. It was just as we were launching our product on the market that my partner married. His wife is in charge of marketing and has helped us tremendously.
"This new venture gave flavor to my life. It has enabled me to provide employment to others in my community, and they can provide for their families. From the very beginning, one of our main objectives has been to employ women, as there were few job offers for women then. Another main objective has been the environment, because we have to deal with chemicals. We reprocess everything we use and do not throw anything away. All our boxes are made out of recycled paper as well.
"I think our creations have a lot of potential. I do not think they will go out of fashion, because people generally love flowers. It is so interesting when you work for yourself. For the past 20 years or so, I have had good and bad times but I enjoyed it all. It is pretty much like black coffee – bitter, sweet and very nice.""