The Birth of AnillosPRI

...I had done the soldering, but had no way to clean the oxidation off the pieces so I could polish them. So I asked for help!...

Has this ever happened to you: you're cleaning out the closet and stumble on boxes of forgotten objects, buried for years and years. And when you open one of them, you're flooded with warm memories at the sight of what's inside?

Years ago, this happened to me. I opened a box and found a bunch of 925 silver jewelry pieces I'd kept since I was very young — and as I looked through it, so many happy memories came flooding back that I couldn't bring myself to put the box away again.

But a dilemma came up: no matter how much sentimental value those pieces held, I had no desire to actually wear them... they were out of style, and so many years had passed that they no longer suited my look.

The next day, I decided to do something about it, and the idea hit me: transform them. Since I'd picked up several goldsmithing tools back in my university years (goldsmithing being another word for jewelry-making), I set out to recycle those old pieces.

"Rings from rings."

That was my first transformation, and the more I sawed (the tool used to cut metal in goldsmithing is called a jeweler's saw), the more I fell in love with the process of making rings.

There was a critical point in this process where I hit a wall: my tools were limited, and I couldn't get past the soldering stage. I had to reach out for help — and a wonderful colleague and neighbor, with more experience in the field than me, gave me a sample of the missing element I needed. That's when I was finally able to finish the recycled pieces I'd been so eager to complete.

With that missing piece in hand, I finished my very first rings — the inspiration behind @AnillosPRI, and the beginning of my brand, Priscilla Sayegh.