BONITU Basula, which started as a “happenstance” hobby, is now a full-time job for the husband and wife team of David and Milelani Vinyard.
They spoke to Variety on Wednesday, March 20 while preparing jewelry they intend to sell at T-Galleria’s Marianas Experience and the forthcoming Flame Tree Arts Festival.
David, originally from Georgia, said the business idea came to the both of them while on honeymoon. He said they spent “nearly every day at the beach,” and had a mutual appreciation for the beauty of sea glass that they saw while walking on the sand.
“It basically started from a love of beachcombing,” he said as he stringed together a coconut bead and alileng shell necklace. “We ended up collecting so much sea glass, and then I had an idea of making a business to sell sea glass to tourists.”
As for the name of their brand, David said it came from their friends. “We were hanging out at Cow Town beach with some friends of ours and one of them jokingly said, ‘Call it basula [garbage] jewelry,’ and then we laughed. Then another friend jumps in and says, ‘No call it bonitu [beautiful] basula and we laughed even harder and that’s the name that stuck.”
To this day, the beach glass they use in their jewelry is sourced directly on Saipan and found while beachcombing. Some of the shells and rocks they use in their jewelry are also found on the beach by the Vinyards. For their part, friends and community members donate or barter raw materials.
“We work with literally just about anything we can get our hands on,” David said. “If it can be carved, we’ll carve it.”
These include alileng, which is a kind of sea snail with a cone shaped, red, black, and white shell and a glossy interior; hima or giant clam; spondylus; and Japanese ceramic pieces.
Milelani, who is Chamorro and Carolinian, said she started carving spondylus before David did.
“I thought it was so pretty and I knew how valuable it was because I used to live in Guam for a little while,” she added.
Milelani said it’s enjoyable to work with spondylus while connecting to something deeper.
“They’re fun to work with and there’s a sense of being connected to my culture and I never felt that before,” she said. “I never thought I could do something that was related to my culture.”
When they were still hobbyists, the Vinyards used an inexpensive rotary drill to create pendants. But when they discovered a passion for creating jewelry and were encouraged by friends, they went pro around March 2022.
“When my husband saw I was really enjoying it and I was starting to make stuff out of it, we upgraded,” Milelani said. “From then on we just kept adding more stuff to our tools.”
The couple purchased a tile saw, a drill press, a lapidary machine, among other tools. Today, they operate a pop-up shop at T-Galleria’s Marianas Experience.
They likewise sell their work online at bonitubasula.com/.
David said they can also be reached on Instagram and Facebook.
Among their big sellers are “neni sinahis,” which are crescent shaped pendants for children; money bead pendants; and heart-shaped spondylus.
Their customers include Chamorros on and off island, as well as current and former Marianas residents, and tourists.
“The Japanese and Chinese definitely appreciate our jewelry, mostly shell or stone [necklaces],” Milelani said adding that their Chinese customers in particular are drawn to alileng sinahi. “They really love the mother-of-pearl kind of look and shine. They really appreciate that.”
David said during a recent visit of a cruise liner, an elderly Japanese woman bought a necklace with a pendant about 3-4 inches long, and a spondylus on the side.
The sale of that single necklace earned them “a few hundred dollars,” he said.
But much of their jewelry begins around $45, with custom pieces varying in price.
Customization is what they had in mind when they came up with their “sandbox,” which they fill with polished pieces that are near completion. Customers can select a piece, request that it be turned into a necklace pendant, earring, or whatever else comes to mind, and the Vinyards will create the jewelry in front of the customer.
“We try to please [our customers] which is why we make so many different things,” Milelani said. “You really never know what people will like. Everyone’s taste is so different.”
David and Milelani Vinyard pose at their pop up shop at T-Galleria.
