Discover || Khai Khai by Haim Medine
When your father is a jewelry industry veteran and your sister is Leandra Medine, the blogging sensation also known as The Manrepeller, starting a cool and quirky jewelry label was really just all about keeping it in the family for Haim Medine, designer and founder of the recently launched Khai Khai Jewelry. The collection, which now has about 75 pieces, includes rings, charms, and earrings that are quality-driven in construction, classic in terms of metals and stones, but totally unconventional in design influence.
It makes sense, considering Haim’s family background, that his designs for Khai Khai fuse that jewelry-industry know-how with a modern sensibility. Pieces include everything from 18k gold, diamond-covered ampersats and exclamation marks to minimal geometric shapes. And because some things are best said with a hashtag, Haim has included those too. If you’re still unclear about what makes this fine jewelry label unique to the market, just look at the name. “Khai Khai is a nickname that was given to me when I was a child” Haim says, “[it] is a moniker that portrays and projects the pure, deep, and raw inner youth that still manifests within all of us.” If you ask us, Khai Khai Jewelry is #whatyoushouldbuynow.
What’s the story behind the name of your jewelry brand?
"Khai Khai" is actually a nickname that was given to me by my aunt when I was still in diapers. It is a play on words and a manipulation on the pronunciation of my Hebrew name, Chaim. As most people have told me while looking at my collection in full, the jewelry is whimsical, fun & just gives off a youthful vibe.
Naming the collection after a childhood nickname just happened to fit perfectly into my whole brand and I knew it would pave the way for a great story. When it's all said and done, every time Khai Khai is worn it should make the wearer feel perennially young at heart.
When did you first start creating jewelry on your own?
I started creating the day I started working for my father. I had built up a scrapbook of concepts and designs over the years and was waiting until I felt that I reached a level where I was confident to set out and start something on my own. I am fortunate to have had the ability to work for my father in order to gain the necessary experience and knowledge that I then would go on to take and apply to my own creations. I cannot place a value on that experience in itself.
