Atinuj Tantivit

Atinuj Tantivit, aka Atty, was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. Her passion in gems and jewelry started when she was quite young. Art has always been a part of her life growing up. Her mother taught her to make beads out of glossy magazine paper for her 2nd grade art project. She enjoyed drawing and creating things with her hands. While her friends were collecting stamps or Barbie dolls, little Atty was collecting stones and rocks--from river stones she found on her traveling to different specimens of minerals she bought from museums and nature's stores.

When it's time for her to decide what to study in college, Geology with concentration on Gemology came to her mind. However, at that point in time the study of Gemology was really new in Thailand. There was only one university that just began to offer a course in Gemology and jewelry design. Under much consideration, she decided to study Environmental Science in the United States.  She chose practicality over her passion.

Atty first experienced jewelry making when she was a sophomore in college. It was a short evening class on how to make a ring. She successfully made her first ever ring with a hematite intaglio and sterling silver. You can say that she was hooked ever since.

Unfortunately, it took her five more years to find her way back to making jewelry. After receiving her Master's Degree in Marine Policies, Atty worked as a marine science educator in Miami, FL. By chance, she found an ad of a small gallery that taught jewelry making at night. She had to fight traffic to go to class every Wednesday after work but it was worth it. She also started making beaded jewelry on the side and sold them to friends and galleries in town. Soon after that it was not her day job that kept her motivated, but her hobby of jewelry making. One night in class, while filing a silver ring, a strange feeling of contentment came over her. It was the first time that she realized that she not only enjoyed making jewelry, she wanted to do it everyday, all day long!

It was a hard decision to leave a career path in science that she was in for more than 10 years, especially for something almost entirely different. However, she realized that the passion that she once ignored was still very much a part of her life and it would be wrong to dismiss it the second time around.

Atty's path in jewelry making has taken her to many places-- from the US to Europe and back to Asia. Atty now works out of a cozy studio in Bangkok, Thailand. It is where she could make her imaginations come true. Her childhood passion naturally shifted from drawing cartoon characters and searching for river rocks to designing/creating jewelry and collecting unique gemstones.

La Chiocciolina by Atty Tantivit jewelry exudes confidence with simple and clean designs that make the wearers stand out from the crowd.