Our Story

A town named after its porcelain

In 1004 a Song emperor gave his own reign name, Jingde, to a kiln town in Jiangxi, because the porcelain it sent to court was marked with those two characters. For a thousand years since, Jingdezhen has fired porcelain for emperors, for the Silk Road, for the tables of Europe — and gave the world the word kaolin, from the white clay of a village just outside town. Four old lines describe what the town was chasing: white as jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, and when struck, the ring of a chime.

What a bead carries

Every LUMI bead is Jingdezhen porcelain. The clay is shaped, glazed and fired at over 1,300°C, and at that heat the kiln makes its own decisions. Blue-and-white is painted by hand in cobalt before firing, so the brushwork sits under the glaze and cannot wear off. Crackle glaze fractures as each bead cools — no one draws the pattern, and no two beads carry the same one. The deep red of the 發 bead is a copper glaze that fails more often than it succeeds. Jingdezhen has a legend for this: the kiln worker who stepped into the fire so the emperor's dragon vat would finally come out whole. We tell it as a legend. But the part about the kiln having a will of its own — every potter in town will tell you that is simply true.

Why a bracelet

A bowl stays on a shelf. A bracelet goes with you — on a wrist, porcelain catches light, knocks softly against a watch, and is noticed. We wanted a way for this material to be worn every day rather than kept behind glass: small, unfussy, strung on cord that fits almost every wrist, and finished the moment it arrives, in a box with a card that tells you how to look after it.

What we promise

Every bead is Jingdezhen porcelain, fired — not moulded resin or glass. Every bracelet is checked by hand before it ships. If it arrives damaged, we replace it, no questions. If you ever wonder what you are holding, write to us — we like the question.

From the Founder

I'm Polly, the founder of LUMI. As an ENFJ, the people I love are always on my mind. Every time I gave a gift, I wanted something that truly fit the person and carried real feeling — and I often got caught in the worry of not knowing what to choose. Sometimes, the more you care about someone, the more you fear getting it wrong.

Then I discovered the ceramic craft of Jingdezhen. I found that these handmade pieces hold the warmth of the craft and a depth of quiet blessing — they speak for the heart on their own. So I shaped that feeling into LUMI, so anyone can easily give a gift chosen just for the person who matters.

We believe a good gift doesn't need to be expensive or complicated. It only needs to make the person feel, the moment they open it: "You thought of me."

Less searching. Less guessing. More meaningful gifting.