Our Story
Chiyomi Designs was founded by Joy Kataoka’s passion for making one- of-a-kind jewelry inspired by her desire to incorporate tradition and culture with contemporary designs.
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Chiyomi Designs is named after Joy’s daughter, Chiyomi, a blend of family names. Chiyo, meaning eternal grace and enduring beauty and Mitsue, meaning wisdom and kindness; that have been passed down for several generations.
Redesigning Antique Jewelry
Joy’s love for creating jewelry began when she inherited her mother-in-law‘s vintage and antique rhinestones jewelry and redesigned them into contemporary pieces as gifts for family members as a way to honor their Grandma Dot and Grandma Kimmie. Her jewelry making journey has evolved into what it is today – creating timeless unique pieces of wearable art featuring high luster Tahitian pearls primarily from Tahiti.
Contemporary Jewelry
She individually selects high luster Tahitian pearls to pair with a variety of semi precious and precious gemstones, baroque pearls, and exquisite accent beads including pave diamond beads. She carefully examines the hue of the Tahitian pearl to match the accent gemstones when designing her earrings, bracelets, and pendants.
Kimono Scarves
Since she was a young girl, Joy has been fascinated with the beautiful craftsmanship of the traditional Japanese silk kimonos and obis worn by her Grandma Matsu and mother Mitsue. Joy especially loved watching her mother and her daughter wear the kimonos and obis to perform dances to honor the spirit of their ancestors during Obon season. Today Joy preserves the artistry of the vintage silk kimonos which fondly remind her of growing up in Hawaii and all the special Japanese traditions by redesigning the kimonos into contemporary accessory pieces. The kimonos and obis are carefully deconstructed and hand sewn into scarves. The majority of the kimonos are from families in Hawaiian that brought their kimonos and obis from Japan when they immigrated to Hawaii in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Truly - honoring the past with contemporary artistry.