The Story
The beauty was always there, waiting to be found.
For much of my mature adult life I have wandered the shoreline, beach-combing for shells the tide has worn and left behind. Most of what I gather comes from the shores of Hawaiʻi, where I live, with more found on shelling trips to Florida, to Vietnam — a place I return to every year, as my wife is from Hanoi — and to other shores around the world.
Holo Holo Bolo grew out of that practice. Holo holo is the Hawaiian spirit of going out to wander with no fixed destination — and that is exactly how these pieces are born.
Most of my pieces begin as ʻopihi, the Hawaiian limpet shell. Many arrive beaten up, dull, even plain — and that is exactly what draws me, because of the beauty hidden inside. With patience I sort each batch to find the rare few worth keeping, then clean and condition them — often with a careful acid bath to lift the worn outer layer — before tumbling, polishing, and wet-drilling each shell by hand on my lapidary wheels, until a quiet, glowing beauty no one expected rises to the surface. Only the rare shell I find fresh from the shore arrives already perfect.
There are many hours in a single piece, spread out over time. I've come to believe the beauty in nature is often hidden — you have to be patient enough to find it, and willing to do the work to reveal it. It is a lesson I carry into every part of life. The fittings — cord, backing, and tips — I source from quality independent makers, and I compose and assemble each bolo by hand here on the Big Island in Kailua-Kona. Every finished piece carries its own story and a place in my collection, and it can never be made twice.
— Aaron, founder & maker
Aaron · founder & maker
