The Mimi So Type Jewelry Collection Is for Font Lovers

NEW YORK. Designer Mimi So gets nostalgic in a newly unveiled jewelry collection that nods to her typography roots. Dubbed Type, the collection of oversize (a little bigger than a quarter) letter pendants in 18k yellow, white, and rose gold speaks to So’s time as a graphic design student at Parsons, where she honed her refined, linear aesthetic.

“So much about jewelry now relates to an expression of individuality,” she explains. “And since I have a graphics background that is so ingrained in me, and because I like calligraphy in Chinese culture, I wanted to create my own font that was whimsical and expressive.”

Finished Type styles, with their asymmetrical edginess and clean sans serif lines, hang askew from chains and reference her original Piece collection of graphic, straight-lined shapes. The font in Type, meanwhile, isn’t a clearly recognizable one from a menu of Word options. Instead, it is So’s spin on a “deconstructed version of Helvetica that is reconstructed,” she says. “I wanted to have a disruptive font.” As for the manufacturing process, So’s craftsmen first create models by hand, later giving them a more precise look through finishing with computer-assisted design, or CAD.

While the pendant necklaces, available in one size only, are for sale now in plain gold, with an 0.11 ct. to 0.13 ct. diamond accent, in full pavé, or with a bumblebee accent borrowed from her Wonderland collection, earrings are also in the works. Find styles in her online shop or in select Neiman Marcus stores and at Betteridge in Greenwich, Conn. And, come 2018, more Wonderland-accented Type pieces will be available from one retailer exclusively. Which one? So won’t say—for now. Check back with her in January.