Abacus Row is kicking off a series of projects in the shop around intimate memories of family. We are excited to be part of it with a Kaarem pop-up daily from May 6-26.

Coming in waves...

Our everyday linens in your favorite silhouettes in new colors!

For the second part of the pop-up at Abacus Row, we will be launching our new Florals summer collection.

The intersection of a Vietnamese-Buddhist custom, a mother who is never not taking photos of flowers, and the American tradition of crafting gifts on Mother’s Day.

A note from Christine Trac, the founder of Abacus Row:

During the elementary years of my childhood, I spent my Sundays with the Gia Đình Phật Tử of Chùa Liên Hoa, the Vietnamese Buddhist youth association in Olympia. There are details from that time that have stayed with me. Among them, the custom of wearing a pink/red or white rose on Lễ Vu Lan, one of the largest Buddhist celebrations of the year – a day to honor parents, particularly mothers. I remember one year for Lễ Vu Lan being paired with one of the older girls, carrying a basket of handmade pink and white roses carefully crafted from ribbon by the women at temple. As we approached each temple-goer, they would gently indicate which flower we should pin to their shirt. A red or pink rose if their mother was still alive; a white rose if their mother was no longer living. I remember the quiet sadness that was embodied with each white rose. I also recall how I treasured the rose pinned to my uniform, but know that I could not have possibly understood the importance of its color.

I remember my own mother coming to temple on those occasions, a pink rose pinned to her aó dài. She wore a pink rose every year until I was 14. For me, the year of my grandmother’s passing marked a time of lasting change for her and ultimately for all of us. In the process of working on this installation I read an essay by the venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, who popularized the rose custom in Vietnam, that has made me reflect on how deeply our mother’s shape our worlds and how deeply that loss can impact our lives – that there is a world that we know with our mothers in it and a world where they no longer exist.

Feeling deeply fortunate and grateful to have a pink rose this year. Thinking of and sending love to my own mother, my dear cousins, our team members, and all of those who have lost their mothers.

- Christine Trac

Lễ Vu Lan, one of the largest Vietnamese Buddhist celebrations of the year – a day to honor parents, particularly mothers. At Abacus Row, we're growing a garden full of roses ~ rose cut-outs to pin on your shirt. In the Kaarem studio, we're making Dây Hoa Hồng / Hand-Embroidered Rose Flower Trinkets ~ to hang a silk rose on a plant, adorn to one's outfit, or display on a wall.

As we create space to bring to mind the relationships with our mothers, our parents or a loved one who has cared for us, we hold a consciousness of motherhood and the range of mother-child relationships - happy, challenging, absent or lost. A pink rose if your mother is still alive; a white rose if your mother is no longer living; and an ocean blue rose, we created, for somewhere in between or neither.

The flower trinkets are entirely handmade; featuring a hand-drawn, then hand-embroidered rose, with a handbraided loop, and finished with a handmade tassel created with thread from our previous collections. A zero-waste product, these trinkets are made in our studio with 100% silk crepe de chine or silk organza remnant fabric.

Abacus Row is releasing a new collection of jewelry featuring Swarovski crystals in batches over the coming weeks. Each style is very limited in quantity and a few one-of-a-kind pieces. Working with deadstock materials for most of these, means that once they’re gone, they’re gone. Abacus Row’s garden collection is inspired by an enduring childhood memory of laboriously cleaning her [Christine Trac] mother’s pink crystal chandelier. It is also an ode to reflection of enduring memories of small details of family and home.

Abacus Row is an independent brand of refined and understated jewelry. Our line reflects an unexpectedly subtle approach to beadwork. Thoughtfully detailed and meticulously crafted, each piece is designed for the sophisticated individual with a discerning eye and effortless sense of style.

Our jewelry is crafted in-house, at our production studio and showroom located in Nob Hill in San Francisco, CA.

Abacus Row was founded by Christine Trac in 2012. Christine’s work and appreciation for jewelry is shaped by a multicultural upbringing and an interdisciplinary background in ethnography and environmental conservation. Christine views jewelry as objects of culture and identity and approaches her work with Abacus Row as a way of expressing subtle yet distinct narratives. She is inspired by both the natural ways in which things come together and the innovative approaches used to produce unexpected connections. Abacus Row is an on-going exploration of material and community intersections.

For Mothers Day (May 8-9), Studio Mondine and Found Floral are launching a flower Arrangements & Ceramics Fundraiser for the AAPI Community Fund. All proceeds will be donated to the AAPI Community Fund through GoFundMe.org to support the effort to advocate for racial justice. Local blooms by Gather Flora, in hand created vessels donated by Bay Area ceramists. You can also donate directly here.

Studio Mondine + Found Floral raised over $4,000 for the AAPI Community Fund! Thank you to everyone for the collective efforts!

The shop is filled up with florals curated by @studiomondine. Buy a stem individually or select your florals for your own bouquet.

Read more about her Mom, her inspiration, for her Wildflower collection at Abacus Row on Minh Singer's instagram.

See you in San Francisco!