wearable art by Peewee Benitez / Ha bi

The journey towards realization of his artistic persona was long and arduous. He struggled to find his niche as a jewelry designer, exploring colors and designs yet unfulfilled with just an extravagant facade. He redirected his designs to what he was truly passionate about. He wanted meaning to his work and he wanted his work to mean something much more for his clients.

“I want heart and soul not just gold and silver. I want my creations to be a vivid expression of my passions and advocacies. I want every single piece to be a love story unfolding, to be a deeply etched memory springing back to life, to be an heirloom passed on through generations. My evolution as an artist was painstaking but it lead me back to my roots and back to the basics.”

Peewee Benitez is a Bicol-based luxury jewelry designer.  At a young age, he spent most of his time watching over their jewelry shop with his mother, also a jewelry artist. His mother quipped that he would play with semi-precious stones instead of toys. Pushing gems around and building gold towers instead of blocks. This piqued his interest with creating fine art during his adolescence but professionally pursued health care.   Although without formal training on jewelry artisan,

Peewee is rich with talent and passion. He honed them with due diligence and experience. In time, he found his center as an artist Nature is his ultimate muse. He often draws inspiration from its glorious beauty and vibrant energy. He captures the timeless delicacy of nature by casting it in gold. The mystery of the infinite depths of the oceans, the unspoken tales of the forests and the whimsical mythic creatures are all breathed with life using precious metals and genuine gemstones.

Peewee, an avid wanderlust, loves to travel but his heart is always with his hometown, Sorsogon. He is an advocate of the locals and is actively promoting their culture and industry. He integrates local products such as dyed abaca in drop earrings and the Salanigo weave, a cultural heritage of Gubat, Sorsogon in arm cuffs. This collection was his tribute to the exquisite artistry of Gubat’s finest traditional weavers.

“Every piece of jewelry I create is a window to my heart and my soul as I pour them lovingly into each and everyone of them. Every meticulous detail and every laborious step of the process is pre-ideated to achieve the precision and the perfection that I sincerely believe the wearer deserves. I fall in love every single time with every single hand-crafted masterpiece. I want to share this romance with jewelry to all. A love story so beautiful that it will be passed on from one generation to the next. It is my dream to create wearable art that will promote growth, that will instigate change, that will transcend time.”