Syna means Together​

Syna is a small company. We like it that way. We work together closely, family and friends, to create something truly special. When you come to Syna, you become part of our circle, a friend, and a collaborator. We are committed to treating everyone with integrity, respect, and responsibility. We want to be part of your success, and we invite you to be part of ours.

Every design has a story​

As world travelers, we have taken great joy in searching for ideas and seeing how one inspiration leads to the next adventure, and how all of our stories fuse together over time. ​Every Syna piece has a little bit of that story, a fragment of history, design, or culture, all woven together into wearable art.​ From the inspiration that birthed it, to the way it was made, each jewel is a unique blend of ideas and experience. Every design has a story and tells a story.​ And then the story extends to you because each jewel’s story becomes your story when you buy it and wear it, gift it or share it. ​At Syna, you are not buying jewelry, you are creating stories, which in turn will become lasting memories.

Beauty is in the details

Beauty is in each of the elements that come together to create it. What you see when you look at a Syna jewel, is the result. ​The simple sophistication transforms classic ideas into a modern aesthetic that is simultaneously familiar and fresh. We always try to push the boundaries of creativity, and we have a strong desire to bring rich, saturated colors to everything we create. ​The intricate details in our designs merge ancient techniques with modern aesthetics in a way that every woman can connect and resonate with. ​Beauty is what you feel when you see it. ​And it’s in all the little details! ​

Always Something New

At Syna, we love to explore and experiment. We're always open to new ideas and excited to try new materials and concepts. That's the reason why there is always something new at Syna. Just like nature, we are constantly evolving. Like a river that is always ebbing and flowing, we tread along and discover new, beautiful, and eye-opening ideas that inspire us to share them with you the only way we know best. At Syna, you'll always find something fresh, something that will inspire you, something that brings a smile to your face.

Future Heirlooms​

At Syna, we don’t make jewelry. We craft it. It’s not enough to come up with a beautiful idea or a beautiful gemstone. It takes craft to merge those elements into a keepsake, a jewel you want to wear every day. Our jewelers work endlessly and passionately to learn skills, old and new, and decide which modality to apply to every piece they make for the most exquisite result. It takes craft to make a jewel that can be worn every day, for years and decades. It takes craft to create an heirloom that can be handed down. We share our joy through jewels that have been made to fit your life, and which symbolize all that is good about intentional, conscientious creation. In the end, aren’t we all building a legacy, for future generations to enjoy? ​

Good Vibes Only​

We create jewelry, so visual beauty is a big part of our positive vibrations. Every time something new is created, it radiates energy into the world. Creating so much energy comes with responsibility. We want the energy that we put into the world to be joy, laughter, peacefulness, and love. We imbue everything we do, and everything we make, with these values. When you become part of the Syna experience, a big part of that experience is knowing that we don’t just want to sell you beautiful jewelry. We want to be a beautiful part of your beautiful life. And with good vibes only!

Before we transcend the ego, we see ourselves as separate entities, disconnected from the whole. We think in terms of "my life", and "your" life. Therefore, we focus on ourselves and we use the world and everything in it to enhance our lives.

After we have transcended the ego, we see ourselves as interconnected parts of the whole. We no longer have a life; we are life. Therefore, we focus on life as a whole and we use our individuality to enhance life in its broader sense. 

This doesn't mean we conform ourselves, it means we integrate ourselves. To conform means to become of the same form as others, which reduces our individuality. To integrate means to use our individuality in a way that it adds something to the world. 

Paradoxically, that is the dance of life, to increase our individuality while simultaneously increasing our connectedness with others. 

Many of us spend our working days running from desk to desk, solving urgent but insignificant problems. Our managers are constantly searching for ways to get more out of us. We're habitually living in the future, thinking about the next quota to make, the next meeting, the next car to buy, the weekend. We're constantly trying to get somewhere instead of being where we are. We miss the only moment we ever have access to. The Now. 

We spend more time at work than with our loved ones. When we come home, we are busier connecting to our devices than to the people we love. We have become little more than zombies. Yet we wonder, "Why am I so tired?" We figure it's because we work too much.

What if we're not doing too much, but rather we're just doing too little of what truly matters?

It's not hard work that exhausts us most, it's meaningless work that exhausts us most. 

Sometimes life feels like a spiral. We make the same mistakes over and over and get ourselves into the same bad relationships. We can hear ourselves asking, “Why has this disastrous situation happened to me? What did I do to deserve it?” Why does it feel like we’re stuck repeating the same patterns? When we ask ourselves questions like this, the Buddhist principle of karma can help us understand what we can do to break out of the repetitive patterns that might cause ourselves and others suffering.

Positive and Negative

Originally the Sanskrit word “karma” (or “karman”) meant “action” or “act.” In time, it came to imply deeds or results. It is important to recognize that karma can be both positive and negative, and it is certainly good karma to have been born a human being. In everyday speech, however, most people tend to think about karma as something only negative, as a kind of spiritual payback or justice for misdeeds, like when a customer who was rude to the barista leaves the coffee shop to find a parking ticket on their windshield.

When this expression is misused, it can seem to refer to some fixed “fate” or “destiny,” which is not what karma is about in Nichiren Buddhism. Rather than being the judgment of some external force, Nichiren Buddhism clarifies the importance of an individual's free will. If we are responsible for creating our personal karma, then we are also able to change it. We have the ability to change aspects of our karma that cause suffering to ourselves and others and to create the best kind of karma that will spread happiness and joy.

Buddhism teaches that humans create karma through our thoughts, words, and deeds. Karma is not created by the cause and effect at work in, for instance, the movements of the Earth’s tectonic plates. There is no conscious will in such movements, so natural disasters such as earthquakes are not caused by karma but by impersonal natural events. It would be wrong to say that people suffer the effects of hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires because of karma.

Not Looking Backwards

So why, then, do bad things happen to us? Maybe that’s the wrong question. What we should ask is, “This has happened to me, so what am I going to do about it?” Rather than looking backwards, for the causes of the effect, we should ourselves become the cause that creates the desired effect.

Our challenge then is not to think of our karma as something that will hold us back. Rather we should use it as a springboard for a happy future. All of those bad relationships with the same type of person, all of those similar experiences at jobs that didn’t work out, those are our karmic tendencies, but they are not our nature and they are not some kind of punishment. Transform your trauma, and that transformation will give you a new appreciation of life and new paths to follow, and it will become an inspiration to others who are suffering the same way. This is how we can transform our karma into the mission for the happiness of others. We start to consider that we actually created the current situation in order to be able to show the power of Buddhism to transform it. This attitude expresses the principle known as “voluntarily assuming the appropriate karma.”

Whatever our karma, the message we are given in Nichiren Buddhism is that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the new cause which enables us to lessen and change the karma we have created in the past. Our prayers for the happiness of ourselves and others, transforming the world around us into a place of harmony, dignity and respect, are the best cause for our future karma and our future happiness.

Previously, we’ve talked about the difference between “carat” (a unit of weight for gemstones) and “karat” (the measurement of the purity of gold). If you remember, 24-karat gold is pure gold, or as close to pure as possible. Gold jewelry advertised as “24 karat gold” is at least 99.99% pure gold. 18-karat gold, on the other hand, is made of 75% gold and 25% other metals, typically copper or silver.

You may have noticed that we use 18k gold in our jewelry. If karat is a measure of purity, wouldn’t you want the purest gold available? Shouldn’t luxury jewelry be made with only the purest gold around?

Not exactly. The answer has to do with the chemical properties of gold itself. Part of the reason gold is valuable is that it was useless for much of history. Today, of course, gold is used as a conductor in electronic devices, but you can’t forge a sturdy shovel or sharp knife with gold. It’s just too soft for that purpose. But for all its uselessness in toolmaking, it is rare and pretty, so we started making pretty things out of it, things that had spiritual or social significance.

We also found a use for it as a measure of value, as in the case of gold bars and coins. Gold bars are always 24k gold. Gold coins, however, especially those minted by governments as currency, are often 22k gold (91.7% gold), which gives you a high level of purity associated with high value as well as a little added durability. You don’t want those coins getting bent out of shape or worn out.

Is 18 Karat Gold Better for Jewelry?

So if 24k gold is so valuable, why don’t we use it in our jewelry? For one thing, pure gold would be prohibitively expensive. The other reason goes back to gold’s malleability. It is a soft metal—so soft that a piece of pure gold can be worked into different shapes by hand. This is why we have the cliché of gold medal winners biting into their medals: pure gold is soft enough that if you bite it, you’ll leave tooth marks. (Unfortunately for these athletes, and their dentists, Olympic gold medals are 92.5% silver and only gold-plated.)

This means that a 24k gold earring can be irreparably bent out of shape while putting it on and a 24k gold ring can be easily damaged by banging your hand into something. Because it is a soft metal, it can also be easily scratched. It is surprisingly easy to accidentally ruin a 24k gold piece of jewelry.

Furthermore, and this is a matter of personal taste, many people prefer the more muted, elegant hue of 18k gold to the bright yellow of 24k gold. For us, 18k gold strikes the perfect balance between the high value of 24k gold and the durability of 14k gold, with a color that looks great with just about any gemstone.

Sorry if this comes as a shock but you're not, no matter how much you want to be, no matter how much you think you are, no matter how much you deserve to be. If you are not in charge, it doesn't mean anybody else is either. We may all be on the same runaway train with no driver or there may indeed be a driver (the driver may be insane, drunk, or asleep but that's another thing entirely). 

Once you accept that you are not in charge, you can let go of so much stuff. It's very liberating. Instead of complaining, "Why isn't it like this?" you can accept it isn't and let it go. Instead of metaphorically bashing your head against a metaphoric brick wall, you can walk away whistling with your hands in your pockets - you are after all, not in charge and therefore not responsible. 

Once you get your head around the wonderful concept that you are here to enjoy and not here to run things, then you are free to sit in the sunshine a bit more often and take time off. 

Look, stuff happens. Good stuff and bad stuff. There may or there may not be a driver. You can blame the driver if you want. You can accept that if there isn't a driver, the journey will sometimes be scary, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes boring, and sometimes beautiful (actually whether there is or isn't a driver the same holds true). we have to have both the good stuff and the bad stuff. That's a fact. If you or I were in charge, we'd probably interfere too much and get rid of most of the bad stuff and the human race would die out ever so quickly due to stagnation, lack of challenge, lack of motivation, and lack of excitement. It is, after all, the bad stuff that fires us up, makes us learn, and gives us a reason for living, If it was all good it would be awfully fluffy and boring. 

A slight condition to this one though. You might not be running the show but that doesn't discharge you of all responsibilities. You still have obligations - you still need to be respectful of the world you live in and the people you live in it with - it's just that you don't have overall responsibility for the whole show and everything in it. 

Seeing as you are not in charge you can watch it like a movie and cheer at the exciting bits, cry at the sad bits and hide during the scary moments. But you are not the director or even the projectionist. You are not even the usherette. You are the audience. Enjoy the show.