I’m Jara Campbell, creator and founder of MILLIE KAI.
What started off as a personal interest soon turned into my passion. MILLIE KAI was born 2017 in Manhattan Beach, a small city of Southern California. After years of creating, learning and building the brand I finally made my vision come to life.
The story behind the name:
In loving memory of my great-grandmother Millie Campbell, who I shared my passion and love for jewelry with. I wanted her to be part of my journey and thereby keep her memory alive through each piece.
Kai is hawaiian for “from the sea”. My travels to Hawaii nurished the inspiration for all my pieces. Since the ocean has a very special place in my heart I want to donate 10% of my profits to ocean and beach cleanup orgnisations and coral reef plantations.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it”
Robert Swan
MATERIALS
I work with gold filled, sterling silver, leather, shells and cotton.
Gold filled jewerly is gold pressure bonded on a base of brass or sterling silver. It’s required to use at least 5% of solid gold, which is 100x more than gold plated and will therefore last much longer than gold plated jewelry. Sterling silver is an alloy created when copper is added to pure silver. Therefore the piece is more durable and less soft. Sterling silver has a purity of 92.5%.
Gold filled jewelry will not tarnish or flake as fast as gold plated jewery. If it shows signs of a tarnish it’s usually just on the surface and can be cleaned easily (cleaning instructions below).
Sterling silver can tarnish faster than gold filled jewelry, but is also easier to clean. If you notice your jewelry getting a little dull, you know it’s time for a clean. You can take it to get cleaned or look up some easy home cleaning methods.
I take my jewelry off everytime before I take a shower or go swimming and I’ve learnt that this is what keeps my jewelry in pristine condition. If you want your piece to be as shiny as on day one I do recommend keeping it dry and following simple cleaning instructions listed below.
PRODUCT CARE
Product care is key for your jewelry to keep the quality from day one. Gold filled and sterling silver jewelry can last a lifetime. The better you take care of it, the longer it will last. Jewelry is very easy to maintain if you follow a few simple steps.
CLEANING
There’s three different ways of cleaning, depending on what your piece has been exposed to.
For your normal daily use, cleaning with a soft cloth is enough. If it got exposed to lotion, perfume, hair spray or sweat you can rinse it with warm water and gently dry it off with a soft cloth.
If your piece has been exposed to stronger things like salt water or chlorine you can give it a better clean. Therefore fill a small bowl with warm water with a little bit of mild soap and let your piece soak for a minute. After that brush your jewelry with a toothbrush or soft cloth. Make sure to rinse it thorougly before drying completely.
STORING
Taking off jewelry before you sleep and storing it in a suitable place can help it last much longer. Make sure your jewelry pieces are dry before storing and do not contact one another in order to avoid scratches. Storing jewelry in a airtight and dry place will help extend its lifetime.