Based in New York City, Kelly Zogheb founded Soulbound in 2017 to meet the demands of gamers, geeks, and alternative brides who are looking for whimsical fine jewellery that is unlike anything else on the market.

Being a gamer myself, I was blown away by the intricate detail of Kelly’s work. Even if you’re not into gaming, you can’t deny the craftsmanship involved in the creation of these little works of art. Her latest collection, New Horizons, is an adorable love letter to the must-have game of 2020, Animal Crossing. Just like the game, these pieces are infused with emblems of nature such as leaves, butterflies, grass and flowers. Each piece has its own cute Japanese name, including Chouchou (butterfly), Uchi (home), Mori (forest) and Kirei (beautiful).

Having admired her jewellery for a long time, I was thrilled to ask Kelly a few questions about her work and inspiration.

I know you love Animal Crossing, and the latest game in the series inspired your adorable New Horizons collection. Can you explain what this collection means to you, and what it is about this game that captures your imagination?

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing since the first game came to the United States, back in 2002, when I was just 12 years old! I remember sitting on bean-bag chairs in the basement playing for countless hours. I loved the game because it was wholesome and sweet, but also very witty and endlessly creative. There were many nights back then where I’d get so sucked into the Animal Crossing world that I’d accidentally play until sunrise (which is something I’m still accidentally doing now!) After that I played every single Animal Crossing game religiously. I played Wild World every day on the bus to and from high school, during lunch when I didn’t have any friends to talk to, and pretty much every night until I fell asleep. I did the same with City Folk.

When New Leaf launched I was already a year out of college and working full-time in the fashion industry. Even though I was now a busy adult, I still camped out overnight at Nintendo World to get New Leaf at midnight! Nintendo World (now called Nintendo NYC) actually had a huge launch event that night and I was able to meet Reggie Fils-Aimé, the president of Nintendo of America at the time. People thought I was crazy waiting outside on the streets of New York City for 15+ hours just to get a video game, but it was so much fun. The Animal Crossing community is so friendly and kind, and I made lasting friendships with the people standing in line around me!

So basically – the Animal Crossing series of games have been a part of my life for over 18 years now, so they’ve had a huge impact on me as a person. I love these games of course because of the aspect of escapism, but also because they allow me to be almost limitlessly creative. I look at my island/town from a designer’s perspective and obsess over every little detail until it’s just right. 

I also really enjoy the fact that there are a lot of Japanese elements to these games that aren’t lost when they’re localised for other countries. As a child playing Animal Crossing: Population Growing, I learned so many things about Japanese culture through the holidays, events, and items I encountered in the game. I’ve always had a love for Japan, and Animal Crossing allows me to indulge my fantasies of living in that magical country, since it’ll probably never happen for me in real life!

Since these games are so important to me, I put a ton of pressure on myself to get the New Horizons collection right. It ended up being the hardest collection I’ve ever designed! I wanted to express my love for Animal Crossing, but not be too literal, while also making sure that the designs were beautiful and wearable. I can’t tell you how many designs I scrapped, how many times I had to walk away, clear my mind, and start over before creating the final rings that are now on my website!

You’re also a huge fan of Zelda, which has been a source of inspiration for your work. What other favourite games have you had over the years?

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has and will always be my favourite video game of all time. I played it through for the first time with the help of my dad and my sister in 1998 (when I was 8 years old!), and I’ve replayed it at least once every year of my life since then. I play every game in the Zelda series because they’re all wonderful, but my favourites are Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Breath of the Wild.

Other than the Zelda series, I also really love Super Mario games (especially Super Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and Odyssey). I play every Mario Kart game as well and get incredibly aggressive and competitive with those. The original Luigi’s Mansion is another game I replay every year without fail. I always start a new file on October 1st to get me in the mood for Halloween. Every year I tell myself I’m going to get the golden picture frames on all of the boss ghosts (which means you need to kill them without taking more than 5 numbers of health damage), and every year I fail! Haha!

I’ve always been a Nintendo girl, but when I started dating my fiancé back in 2006, he introduced me to World of Warcraft. We’ve both been playing WoW ever since, so that’s about 14 years at this point! He’s played a ton of different classes over the years, but I’m always a night elf priest!

You use all sorts of materials in your jewellery – gold, diamonds and many other precious gemstones. Do you have a favourite to work with or any new materials you’d like to try?

Personally I love working with yellow gold because there’s something ancient/medieval about it. When I imagine a new design, it’s always in yellow gold. I’m always happy to create any of my designs in white or rose gold, and I actually love when I receive orders in these gold colors because I get to see my designs in a totally different way. Sometimes I’m surprised by the results! I now think that all of the pieces in my Sailor Moon inspired collection look even more amazing in rose gold!

My favourite gemstones to work with are diamonds, because no other stone comes close in terms of brilliance and scintillation. A lot of my designs are very delicate and I love the fact that even a super tiny 1mm diamond sparkles! My favourite coloured stones actually change through the seasons. I’ve been excited about spring and cherry blossom season here in New York, so lately I’ve been loving morganite and peridot because the delicate warm pink and bright yellowy green are pretty close in colour to sakura flowers and leaves!

In the future I really want to design some pieces with salt-and-pepper diamonds. I think they’re stunning, but since they’re full of random inclusions, every salt-and-pepper diamond is unique. This makes them a bit tricky to design with, especially when you’re running an e-commerce business. I’ll never be able to find stones that look exactly like the one I used for the sample that’s shown on my website, so every customer will receive a piece that looks a bit different.

Can you explain your process for working with clients on bespoke pieces?

Bespoke pieces are so much fun, because they give clients a chance to put their own spin on a piece of Soulbound jewellery! I have a little bespoke request form on my website where clients can fill in all of the information I need to get started, such as the style they’d like to change, gold colour, ring size, and details of the customisation they’re looking for. Most people choose to swap out gemstones for alternatives.

From there I edit the original 3D CAD model of the design with all of their requested changes, and send 3D rendered images of what the final piece will look like! After we create the piece I always try to photograph it for my records, and I’m hoping to update the custom page on my website soon with a full gallery of bespoke pieces.

One of the most fun pieces I’ve worked on was a Spiritual Stone of the Forest Ring with a lavender sapphire center stone and an ombre of blue sapphires on either side of the band that went from a deep blue to a light, faded blue. It was so unique!

With the outbreak of COVID-19, many small businesses are struggling to survive and New York has been one of the worst affected cities. How has the outbreak impacted your business?

Running a small business by myself has always been incredibly challenging, but now with the COVID-19 situation in New York, running Soulbound is downright terrifying. At first I completely shut down production, because I rely on the help of artisans in New York City’s diamond district for things like casting and stone setting, and since all of these artisanal professions are considered non-essential, everyone was forced to stay home. Since then many of these artisans have actually set up robust home studios, so they’re able to continue their craft at home!

I feel much better now because this means I’m able to continue creating jewellery, however communicating with all of these artisans is more difficult and I now need to ship all of the materials back and forth to them, so I’m spending quite a lot of money on shipping fees. We’re also obviously operating much more slowly than usual, so I email everyone who places a new order and ask for their patience as we do our absolute best! So far everyone has been so kind, and I really can’t thank my customers enough for being so understanding. I also have customers and followers on Instagram who contact me just to see how I’m doing and make sure I’m still safe and healthy, and it means so much!

I’m really hoping that things will be back to normal soon, but since New York was hit so hard with COVID-19, I doubt the city’s restrictions will be lifted any time before July. So far all of my friends and family have remained safe and healthy, so I really can’t complain. I miss seeing people in person, but we hang out together in Animal Crossing almost every day!

Are you able to say anything about any other current or upcoming projects?

At the moment I’m working on adding earrings and necklaces to the New Horizons collection. They’re taking a bit longer than I expected because I’m so concerned about getting them just right! I think I’m almost there and I’m hoping I can have them completed and ready to launch on the website in June.

I’m also going to add a few new ring designs to the New Horizons collection for June that’ll be inspired by summer! Part of what makes Animal Crossing so special is the fact that the time in the game is synced up with time in real life. There are always new things to do and see during different seasons, and I plan to launch new mini-collections to go along with the change of seasons in the game!

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About the Designer: Kelly Zogheb started Soulbound in 2014 selling brass and silver pendant necklaces inspired by video game characters and low poly graphics on Etsy and at various craft fairs and comic book conventions. After 2 years, she decided to take her jewellery company to the next level. She attended the Gemological Institute of America, studying fine jewellery design, 3D CAD modelling, diamond grading, and coloured gemstone identification.

In July 2017, she re-launched Soulbound as a fine-jewellery company featuring video game inspired designs that are handcrafted from the highest quality materials in New York City.

Copyright: All pictures in this post are copyrighted Kelly Zogheb. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.