About SUBLIMA

Meet the Maker

Hey! I'm Kelly Bit, the founder of SUBLIMA, and I hand make your jewelry. I'd love to share a bit about SUBLIMA and how it came to be. Art imitating life has always enraptured me. As a child, if I wasn’t drawing then I was crafting, and I made jewelry using basic beading techniques, though it wouldn’t become my favorite medium for some time.

I love writing, too, which is why I spent eight years of my career as a journalist after graduating from Yale, where I majored in English. I was a reporter at Bloomberg News for eight years, and while financial news journalism was exciting and challenging, I missed the creative arts as a major part of my life. I started spending my free time making, and the intentional lifestyle switch brought me a lot of fulfillment, so much that I wanted to transform my pastimes into something more.

I pursued more technical skills and learned metal smithing and wax carving, which is how I handcraft the pieces in this collection. Jewelry helped me discover my creative conviction; I cherish having an idea that I can't wait to create, and how rewarding it is to transform concepts into beautiful, tangible forms that communicate the intangible: One’s tastes and intentions for self-expression.

SUBLIMA references subliminal messages that produce hidden feelings; I love that interesting, artful objects can move us in mysterious ways. The chance that my jewelry sparks that in anyone makes me supremely happy.

Artful and Sustainable Jewelry

I aim to make wearable pieces of art that last a lifetime. The jewelry is handmade in New York — I carve wax to create the prototypes, essentially making little wax sculptures, then mold and cast them into metal using recycled brass and recycled sterling silver. Learn about the climate impact of using recycled vs. mined metals.

The casted pieces are 100% of the metals used (they're not plated, because plating wears away over time). Then they’re polished and assembled by hand. Each piece comes with a complimentary polishing cloth, which can be used to keep the jewelry shiny.

Read more about the recycled and quality metals that I use and jewelry care. I use these materials and offer free shipping because I believe iconic jewelry should be sustainable and accessible. If the aesthetic draws you in, I still want you feeling good about everything else.

Values-Driven Advocacy

Sublima Founder Kelly Bit at pop-up with headline: "Jewelry Designer Donates Sales to NYC Chinatown"

Just as important as creating striking and sustainable jewelry that will last a lifetime is the closely-held value of giving back to support important causes.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, SUBLIMA donated more than $31,000 to five Chinatown organizations (Welcome to Chinatown, Send Chinatown Love, Think!Chinatown, Heart of Dinner and Chinese American Planning Council) to support Chinatown’s merchants, feeding residents and safeguarding communities at risk from decreased foot traffic, accelerating gentrification and rising anti-Asian racism. Learn more about the Chinatown donations campaign in AsAmNews.

Also in 2020, SUBLIMA donated all proceeds in June to the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to criminal justice reform, racial justice and public education, and all proceeds in April to Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund, to help support food banks serving the most vulnerable communities across the country.

In 2021, SUBLIMA donated $25,000 to five nonprofits supporting the Asian American and Chinatown communities (Asian American Federation, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, Asian Americans for Equality, Think!Chinatown and Immigrant Social Services) to support underserved children, the homeless and those in need of affordable housing, restaurants, businesses and residents of Chinatown, patients in need of affordable healthcare and smaller nonprofits serving the New York Asian American community.

In 2022, SUBLIMA partnered with Run for Chinatown, an organization and running community that fundraises for New York Chinatown's residents and businesses, by making the Run for Chinatown x SUBLIMA 跑 “Run” Pendant Necklace. 100% of its net proceeds are donated monthly to A Place For Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1971, which provides quality cultural enrichment through low-cost after-school programming for children of new immigrants and low-income families in lower Manhattan.⁠

Get in Touch

Have a question or wanna say hi? Contact me via Instagram direct message at @sublimajewelry or email at hey@sublimajewelry.com — I'd love to hear from you.