This is a true story.
It's a friend's wedding in Portugal. The bride and groom are passing around shots of Ginja, the Portuguese cherry liqueur that makes everyone a little braver. I'm wearing my brand-new Sjø earrings and feeling extremely glamorous. We toast, we drink, and one earring slips out of my ear and dives straight onto a very sharp cobblestone path.
It did not survive.
What a way to go out, though.
I broke it on purpose. Sort of.
Before we launched Float, I test-drove it hard, and on purpose. I am very hard on my jewelry. If something can break, I will find out how, usually by accident and usually in public. I'd already dropped those same Sjø earrings a few times and they were totally fine. It took a wedding toast and a Portuguese cobblestone to finally take one down.
That's the whole point of wearing things before we sell them. We'd rather find the weak spots ourselves than have you find them for us. I'd rather you didn't repeat my Portugal moment, so every Float earring with an ear wire now comes with silicone stoppers. I learned the hard way so you don't have to.
So, does Float break?
The question we hear more than any other. Here's the honest answer: yes, glass can break.
Float is made with hand-blown borosilicate glass spheres, set on and forged 14k gold-fill. We don't blow the glass ourselves; we design and build the jewelry around it, here in our San Antonio studio. Borosilicate is sturdier than you'd guess, and most of Float wears really well. But it's still glass, and glass has one natural enemy: gravity. Add a hard or sharp surface and you've got a bad day.
You'll want to be a little more careful with these than with your all-metal everyday pieces. That's the price you pay for wearing spectacular-looking bubbles. We think it's worth it.
If it breaks anyway: Float Glass Repair
Accidents happen, even to careful people. Especially to careful people holding a shot of Ginja. So we made repairs easy. Just purchase our Float Glass Repair.
$25 for the first sphere, $5 for each additional, and your piece is back to you in 7 to 10 business days. Shipping to and from our studio is included in the price. Just head to the Float Glass Repair page, pick how many spheres need replacing, and we'll send you a label.
No drama, no lecture. You bring us the pieces, we put it back together.
And if you're local, you can drop it off at the studio and skip the shipping entirely.
Everyday pieces vs. showing-off pieces
Not every Float piece lives the same life.
Everyday wear: These are the ones you can throw on and forget about. Smaller, closer to the body, less swinging around, less opportunity for drama. The Zee, Vari, Umi, Sjø, Mar, Meri, Tai, and Jura
Special occasion: Hav and Okun. These are the showstoppers, bigger and more movement, made for dinners, weddings, and nights when you want people to ask about your earrings. Wear them out, just maybe don't wear them to move apartments.
How to keep your bubbles intact
A few habits go a long way:
- Put your earrings on and take them off over something soft, not over a tile bathroom floor.
- Store Float separately from your other jewelry so metal pieces aren't knocking against the glass.
- Take pieces off before the gym, the pool, or any activity where things get flung around.
- Use your stoppers.
Wear the bubbles, raise the Ginja, and if gravity wins, you know where to find us.
— Jessica
