A Visit to SENTE | Jewelry as Water

SENTE is a jewelry brand based in Nezu, Tokyo, built around the idea of feeling a connection with nature in everyday life. At the studio, designer Takayuki Ota works alongside his craftsmen to melt silica (quartz) and shape each piece almost as if carving a sculpture, creating jewelry and objects one by one.

The material Ota uses is silica—a familiar substance found abundantly in the earth, in soil, rocks, and quartz, and present in trace amounts in the human body. Glass, something we encounter every day, is also primarily made of silica. Ota sources optical glass made from quartz and further processes it, while also melting quartz and sand himself, transforming them into glass and ceramic as he develops his own materials for jewelry. Though the material is strong enough for everyday wear, it can be resized, repaired, and remade again and again, allowing it to transform over time, much like a person.

Ota was born and raised in Takeo, Saga. His childhood home stood beside a lake, and water—both gentle and, at times, frightening—was always part of the landscape of his early memories.

It was therefore natural for water and silica to become connected in Ota’s mind. He was drawn to the organic and fluid qualities of silica, and to the idea that it does not have to be perfect, in contrast to the intentional beauty of diamonds—beauty created through the human process of cutting and polishing—and also in contrast to his own naturally serious and meticulous character. For Ota, wearing SENTE jewelry made from silica is almost like wearing water.

Near his childhood home was Kissa Sankan-jin, an old coffee shop that became a wellspring of creativity for Ota as a teenager. Quietly perched on a large rock, the hidden café was built by its artist-owner in the style of a German mountain hut, using bricks and reclaimed wood he had collected himself. Inside, visitors could drink coffee and enjoy simple meals surrounded by collected books and wooden sculptures made by the owner.

It was here that Ota began to learn how to relate to nature and how to approach making things. The owner’s son was Ota’s classmate and later became an artist himself. When Ota was in his late twenties, he worked as his manager for a period of time—an experience that would also become part of the foundation for his work today.