ama
Pearls from the depth of the mysterious sea
Pearls from the depth of the mysterious sea
The Ama Collection visually evokes the delicate shells of mussels that produce treasured pearls. Meticulously cut glass of substantial size encases a pearl in its center in the form of a light source providing soft ambient light.
The refined elegance of pearls was transposed into the precisely executed form of the Ama lights, designed by Václav Mlynář, BOMMA Art Director. As he explains,
“Ama is the perfect form of sea shells that create and protect pearls. Much like in the Mussels Collection, I found inspiration in those mysterious lives under the surface of the sea.“
The name of this collection refers to pearls, specifically the Japanese female pearl divers called Ama. In Japanese, the word ama refers to a ‘woman of the sea‘ – a female pearl diver who traditionally collected pearls in Japan over centuries. There are two available construction variations of the mounting that may be preconfigured and determine whether the shell will be opened or closed, evoking real-life pearl mussels. “These lights enable beautiful combinations of opened and closed shells, always creating an original constellation,” Václav Mlynář explains.
Each glass shell is produced by using a special glassmaking technique. Over the course of two days, the glass is heated and gradually melts by its own weight into a prepared conical mold. Ama lighting comes in both opened and closed versions that work beautifully as individual pieces or natural groupings into mussel clusters.
Since 2017 Václav Mlynář has been Creative Directors of BOMMA. He has international experience from studying and working in the Czech Republic, US, Denmark and London. He obtained his master degrees in Product Design at the Royal College of Art in London and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. In years 2011- 2020 Václav was running, with Jakub Pollág, award-wining product design studio deFORM. In 2020 Václav focused on running his product studios VM, spatial/interior architecture studio MONUMENT Office.
