{"id":3434,"date":"2021-10-08T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T09:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?p=3434"},"modified":"2022-01-18T19:50:11","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T19:50:11","slug":"shinola-x-pewabic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/shinola-x-pewabic\/","title":{"rendered":"Glazing Trails"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A new partnership between Shinola and Pewabic celebrates pottery\u2019s historical and contemporary contributions to \nart and design.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Nestled inside a turn-of-the-century Tudor Revival building off Jefferson Avenue on Detroit\u2019s east side sits Pewabic Pottery, an iconic ceramics studio and education center that\u2019s more than a century old\u2014a timeless survivor from an era gone by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Michiganians may recognize the name from the Pewabic region in the state\u2019s Upper Peninsula, where copper mines were once abundant and where meaty \u201cpasties\u201d remain a beloved meal. It is here, in a land once teeming with native wildlife, that founder Mary Chase Perry Stratton took walks with her father as a child and found inspiration for her life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Stratton, and her neighbor, Horace Caulkins, opened Pewabic in 1903, which is now recognized as one of the foremost historic potteries in the country, and the sole operation of its kind in the state of Michigan. Pewabic\u2019s vibrantly-colored, unusually-iridescent glazes have become the organization\u2019s trademark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pewabic is best known, however, for its signature clay tile installations that have been incorporated into architectural design throughout its hometown. Here in Detroit, you will find Pewabic tiles in numerous edifices, including everywhere from the Detroit Institute of Arts to Jack White\u2019s Third Man Records. Further abroad, Pewabic\u2019s creations reach as far as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and this season, Shinola is pleased to announce that its two most iconic watch silhouettes\u2014the Runwell and the Birdy\u2014are now available with special-edition handcrafted clay dials made by artisans at Pewabic. Teams are also collaborating on pottery design for a candleholder that will launch in time for the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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THROWING IDEAS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Pewabic-Shinola marriage wasn\u2019t hatched overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting in late 2017, Shinola\u2019s watch design team began researching the International Arts and Crafts Movement as inspiration for their next collection. Pewabic \u2013 a hallmark manifestation of that movement \u2013 emerged as a natural partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have emails [with Pewabic] going back to January 2018,\u201d says Greg Verras, design director at Shinola. \u201cThe project showed a lot of early promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That promise, however, presented challenges to Shinola\u2019s technical teams. Coupling handcrafted pieces of pottery with watchmaking precision seemed nearly impossible. But Shinola\u2019s designers, in tandem with the company\u2019s components manufacturer and Pewabic\u2019s senior designer Genevieve Sylvia, were determined to find a way. 

\u201cThe initial prototypes were chipping, and we could not machine them to the correct dimensions,\u201d says Verras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, the ideas kept flowing. Finally, they began experimenting with the clay body, which \u201cwas the perfect level of workability for machining,\u201d Verras recalls. \u201cNot too hard, not too soft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026was the perfect level of workability for machining. Not too hard, not too soft.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Having found a viable path forward, both parties dug in. They found using the clay body allowed the nonprofit manufacturer to salvage tiles from Pewabic that had minor imperfections and could not otherwise not be repurposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The end result, says Verras, allows Shinola to utilize a decades-old clay-making process to shine a light on incredibly talented artisans. Glaze specialists, potters, and painters have made Pewabic their playground for discovery and creativity over the last century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe fell in love with the process that goes into making the clay\u2026.a very underappreciated part of what Pewabic does,\u201d says Verras. \u201cAnd we have been known to showcase the unsung heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd we have been known to showcase the unsung heroes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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THE OLD-SCHOOL WAY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To hand produce the dials, Pewabic utilizes many of the same clay-making methods and equipment employed over the last century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe same clay mixer and filter press used in the early 1900s is responsible for the final stoneware dial you\u2019ll find on the watch face and the candle holder tile,\u201d says Amanda Rogers, Pewabic\u2018s marketing director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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