THE ORIGIN: Inside the First 150 Minutes of CREW CUTTERS
When “Siam Ruby” Became the Beginning of Our Lesson in Teamwork
CREW CUTTERS’ first challenge on The Cut Reality began with just 150 minutes on the clock.
Under the theme THE ORIGIN – The Beginning of Thai Gemstones, each team was challenged to create a piece of jewelry with “Siam Ruby” at its heart—from developing the concept, designing, sketching, and rendering, to planning the marketing strategy and preparing the final presentation for the judges.
But for us, the real challenge was not simply the clock counting down.
This was the very first time all 15 members of CREW CUTTERS had ever worked together as a team.
Before putting pencil to paper, we began with the meaning of “The Origin” itself.
Rather than asking what the jewelry should look like, P’Arm (Thanawat Panachaweng of Charites Gems), our Creative Director, invited everyone to explore and share their interpretations of what an “origin” truly means. Through that conversation, one central idea began to emerge:
An origin is not simply light overcoming darkness. It is the simultaneous birth of deep shadow and radiant light. True luxury, therefore, exists in the balance between The Void and The Light.
This philosophy was further developed into a creative direction called "Neo-Eastern Couture" —a new expression of luxury that brings Eastern philosophy together with sophisticated contemporary design through three core ideas:
Refined — stripping away excess until only the essence remains.
Unexpected — creating a sense of surprise through form, material, and proportion.
Profound — subtly embedding philosophy, spirit, and cultural roots within the design.
From Philosophy to Form
Once the core concept became clear, the team began translating these abstract ideas into tangible forms.
One of the ideas proposed by P’Boat (Eakkrai Puangmanee of SEWN Handicraft) was to use the movement of magma as a visual language for the design.
Unlike water, magma does not flow freely. It moves, overlaps, accumulates, and pauses, gradually solidifying into new formations. These characteristics became the foundation for developing the necklace’s lines—creating a sense of movement, layering, and rhythm, as if capturing the moment when energy beneath the Earth’s surface slowly transforms into gemstones.
Building on P’Arm’s creative direction and the ideas contributed by the team, P’Arm and P’Ji (Jitapa Auramornrat of Siamwell), the team’s designers, began translating the concept into hand-drawn sketches.
The designs were then brought to life with color by Praew (Areeya Chaiwan of Minella) and Pingpong (Titikorn Yaikam of Pimrapha), ultimately taking shape as the collection “THE ROOTS OF SIAM.”
Within just 150 minutes, the team went beyond designing a single hero piece, developing a complete collection of four jewelry pieces.
The Necklace captures the movement and layering of the formation process.
The Stack Ring explores the idea of Hidden Gems, with each overlapping layer gradually revealing intricate details and gemstones concealed within.
The Earrings reinterpret the same design language in a more wearable proportion, while the Bracelet carries the collection’s rhythm and structural elements into another form.
Most importantly, the four pieces were not designed to look identical. Instead, they were created from a shared design language, allowing each piece to have its own character while still belonging naturally within the same collection.
From Jewelry to the Story of Ownership
While the design team was developing the collection, other members worked together on the strategy and marketing direction.
One idea was to introduce the collection through an auction on July 7, 2027 (7/7/2027). As ruby is the birthstone of July, the number seven and the seventh month were chosen not simply to create a memorable date, but to connect the auction itself to the storytelling of the gemstone.
In this way, the moment of acquiring the piece would become part of the collection’s story—not simply a transaction, but a meaningful chapter in the journey of ownership.
When a collector acquires a piece from the collection, they would also receive The Book of Origin—a record of the ruby’s story and provenance—together with a certificate from GIT. This ensures that the value of each piece extends beyond what can be seen, encompassing its story, origin, and the confidence of knowing more about the gemstone they own.
The story of THE ROOTS OF SIAM was presented to the judges by Nipoon (Pattaranida Chaleowpanya of Orithai), Oom (Chutima Pichitronachaikun of Be’Shine), and P’Mae (Pawaranan Sinlapawanich of Morakot Gallery).
The presentation ultimately earned CREW CUTTERS 3rd place, securing the team a place in the next round of The Cut Reality.
Feedback That Became Another Lesson for Be’Shine
One piece of feedback from the judges that stayed with us was that the collection felt beautiful, contemporary, and genuinely wearable. They also highlighted the way the design brought together multiple smaller Siam Rubies, arranging them to create the visual impact of a single larger gemstone. This approach allowed the jewelry to retain a strong sense of presence and perceived value without relying on one large gemstone, while also making thoughtful use of the limited materials available to us. For Be’Shine, this became an important lesson: limitations in material do not have to become limitations in value. Sometimes, the role of a designer is not to search for the largest, most expensive, or most perfect material.
It is to recognize how what we already have can be arranged, cut, crafted, and given a story in a way that allows its greatest value to be seen.
The same could be said of CREW CUTTERS on our very first day together.
We did not begin as a team that had worked together before. We did not have endless time, nor did we have unlimited resources. What we did have were 15 people with different areas of expertise.
Once everyone made space for one another’s ideas, those differences began to work together. P’Arm shaped the creative direction. The team built upon it. P’Boat introduced the visual language of magma. P’Ji translated those ideas into design. Praew and Pingpong brought the sketches to life with color. Other members developed the strategy, while the team’s representatives brought the entire story to the judges.
Our differences, rather than becoming limitations, became the team’s greatest resource.
And perhaps that is not so different from the idea behind the jewelry itself: many smaller Siam Rubies, brought together thoughtfully, can create the presence and impact of one extraordinary gemstone.
Because sometimes, value is not defined by how much we have in our hands, but by how well we recognize the potential of what we already have—and how thoughtfully we bring it all together.
And this was our first lesson from the first 150 minutes of CREW CUTTERS—the beginning of a journey called “THE ROOTS OF SIAM.”
— Be'Shine
Follow the journey and discover the creations of CREW CUTTERS on The Cut Reality. EP. 1 - The Cut Design Identity Challenge - ศึกประชันอัตลักษณ์ เจียระไนฝันสู่เวทีโลก
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