Our Story

Born From the Mould

The mostly-true story of how one woman's breakdown became an entire product line.

The Origin

Founded in 2019 in a garage with a second-hand injection moulder, a dream, and an irresponsible amount of credit card debt, Plastic Pearls has grown into the world's most intentionally artificial jewellery house.

Our founder, after being laughed out of three jewellery trade shows in a single weekend, had what she describes as "a moment of clarity" and what her therapist describes as "a concerning episode."

She decided that if the jewellery industry was going to gatekeep beauty behind absurd price tags, she would simply go around them entirely. With plastic. From a bin.

The Plastic Pearls atelier

The Journey

A Brief, Chaotic History

2019
Purchased a broken injection moulder on eBay for $340. Seller described it as "mostly functional." This was generous. First 200 beads came out as a single fused blob. We called it art and moved on.
2020
Launched online store. First customer was the founder's mum. Second customer was the founder's mum using a different email address. Third customer was a stranger. We cried. Actual tears.
2021
Went viral on TikTok after someone used our Eternal Bond Ring to propose at Costco. The video got 2.3M views. She said yes. Costco asked us to stop claiming it happened in their store.
2022
Hired our first employee (Derek). Derek's primary qualification was that he owned a van. He is now Head of Logistics. He still owns the van. The van is the logistics department.
2023
Moved into a proper warehouse. Adopted a warehouse cat (Chairman Meow). Chairman Meow contributes nothing to operations but is listed as Head of Morale. Staff morale remains unchanged.
2024
Expanded to 11 full-time staff and one part-time accountant who keeps asking us to "please reconsider the business model." We have not reconsidered.
2025
You're reading this website right now. So either we're still going or someone forgot to take the server down. Either way: welcome.

By the Numbers

Metrics That Technically Count

12,847
Pieces Moulded
0
Carats of Anything Real
∞
Half-Life (Years)
1
Warehouse Cat
47
"Quality" Checkpoints
6
Break-Ups Caused
14
Weddings (Somehow)
$7.49
Cheapest Proposal Ever

The Team

The People Behind the Plastic

A small team doing our best with limited resources and unlimited audacity.

👩‍🔧

Sam Chen

Founder & CEO

Had a "moment of clarity" in 2019 that her therapist still won't fully endorse. Banned from two trade shows. Operates the injection moulder personally because she doesn't trust anyone else with Brenda.

🚐

Derek Hollis

Head of Logistics

Employee #1. Hired because he owned a van. The van is the logistics department. Also responsible for "curating" the Gallery Stack Trio by grabbing three items at random from the bin. Takes this very seriously.

🐱

Chairman Meow

Head of Morale

Warehouse cat. Has never once contributed to operations. Sleeps on the packing table. Knocked an entire box of Midnight Drop Studs off a shelf in March. Remains employed. Morale unchanged.

The Honest Comparison

Us vs. "Real" Jewellers

We did this comparison ourselves so it's definitely unbiased.

FeaturePlastic PearlsTraditional Jeweller
Looks expensive from 3 metres✓ Absolutely✓ Yes
Survives close inspection✗ Absolutely not✓ Yes
Affordable enough to lose without crying✓ Lose it, step on it, who cares✗ Insurance required
Makes you question capitalism✓ Every purchase✗ Reinforces it
Ethical sourcing✓ It's from a bin, mate✗ Complicated
Will impress a jewellery expert✗ They will call the police✓ Presumably
Available for under $20✓ Entire catalogue✗ The display case, maybe