DITL: Factory Visit
Wanted to share a snippet of my recent trip to China
Just got back from a 3 week trip in Australia / Asia and wanted to start sharing snippets of my trip with everyone here!
So after Australia, I headed to China. The main purpose of this visit was to visit our current suppliers, but also take this opportunity to visit the market to explore potential new suppliers and scout different materials and emerging technologies that hasn’t hit the mainstream. It was mostly exploratory market research but definitely opened up a few interesting opportunities.
Our factories are based in Guangzhou, China.
Some sneak peeks (but they’re not quite there yet)!
It was great to meet the people I’ve been communicating with over email for the past few years and also see some familiar faces. Seeing the operations firsthand gave me a strong sense of confidence—not only in the quality of the work, but also in the working conditions and the overall wellbeing of the teams. It was reassuring to see such a positive and professional environment. I have been to many factories in my time and seen an insight into how so many different production facilities work, so I was really impressed with the standard of our partners.
One of the highlights was visiting the book box factory. I approved some samples on the spot, which was incredibly efficient compared to the usual back-and-forth via email and waiting to be sent samples, especially with the time difference and shipping delays - it can take forever. So excited to share that some new book box designs are set to release later this year! Cannot wait to show you guys what we’ve been creating. Sharing a sneak peek of some stuff in the works in the gallery above.
What do we think about leopard prints in general?
I also toured our watch factory, which was impressively high-tech. They gave me a tour of the factory and the production line. Overall, I was so impressed with how detailed-orientated the process was.
When entering the factory, we were immediately suited up in lab coats and caps, and I even went through their 60-second dust-control system to ensure no particles made it into the watch cases.
The team walked me through the advanced technologies they use to guarantee the quality and durability of their watches—including water pressure testing, strap durability checks, and more. The level of precision and care in every step of the process was seriously impressive.
These factories produce for so many global high-end brands, and seeing one of the suppliers wearing our Heaven Mayhem Icon Watch was such a proud moment!
If you want more content on this trip, I’ve shared daily vlogs on my TikTok!
Do you guys enjoy this kind of BTS content? I also shared more about this trip on our latest Community Zoom! I think it’s super important to bring you along behind the scenes and show you how things are really made.
There’s been a lot of misconceptions and narratives around the “Made in China” label, and I just wanted to share how incredibly high-tech, detail-oriented, and committed our producers and suppliers are. They go above and beyond to ensure we’re delivering amazing products and quality.
Let me know what your thoughts are and comment below what other kind of BTS you’d like to see.
Next up - I’m recapping Tokyo.
XOXO, Pia
I love this! Definitely always a yes to more BTS. I’m interested in every single step of the process. Show us everything! You’re so right about the unfair stigma of “made in China”. It’s always nice to know that your fave brands are using ethical means of production.
Be careful of the snips with the information on them… Tik tock isn’t friendly with founders rn ;)