Chinese tea · chrome, pavé, sparkle
Chrome letters, matte leaf
Thirty-four Chinese teas under blackletter cast in chrome and set with stones — dripping metal, star flares and a magenta glow, with the tea left exactly as photographed.
Chinese tea · chrome, pavé, sparkle
Thirty-four Chinese teas under blackletter cast in chrome and set with stones — dripping metal, star flares and a magenta glow, with the tea left exactly as photographed.
8 teas · 5 categories
Every graphic element here is treated as metalwork — the letters are cast, the flourishes are cut, the stones are set — and the tea is the one thing left alone. That contrast is the design: chrome is smooth, cold and reflective, while a knot of aged pu-erh is matte, dry and irregular, and next to each other both read more clearly than either would alone. Blackletter is used because it is the letterform jewellers actually cut, and stone-setting it is the shortest way to say value out loud rather than implying it with white space. The teas that carry this best are the expensive dark ones, the ones sold by the gram and kept for years, so the frame is not making a claim the material cannot meet. Star flares and the magenta halo stay behind the leaf, never on it, because a highlight painted onto a photograph of tea would be a lie about what the tea looks like. Two grounds, black and white, give the same jewellery a night version and a counter version.