BLINGIN’ IT IS TEN’S ONLINE SERIES WHERE WE SPOTLIGHT THE INNOVATORS AND CHANGE-MAKERS OF THE JEWELLERY WORLD.
Imagine a swarm of otherworldly swords, vampiric fangs, flies encased in blood, aces and faces, heavy metal graphics, fragile love lockets, braces, spiderwebs, stars, hearts, horseshoes and predatory spikes. That’s the kind of off-kilter stuff Bitter000000 makes: intriguing, arcane, neo-punk grillz. Operated by Ava María and Anton Bitter, a visionary couple based out of Bushwick, Brooklyn – and their rat terrier Bully, who’s always sleeping in the studio when they work – the pair started their dental jewellery brand out of spite.
After losing a cap that Bitter had had from a pre-existing brand, he asked if he would be able to undertake an apprenticeship or at the very least, learn from them in some capacity. But, the brand turned him down and so, in an act of defiance, he taught himself the fastidious craft of making grillz, eventually launching his own label out of… well… bitterness. Bringing on María soon after, the autodidact pair fast found a community that chomped at the bit to get their hands on their odontal designs.
Describing their conceptual aesthetic as “alien, inside joke, dark web”, it’s clear that the couple don’t take themselves too seriously. They’re doggedly committed to their craft, and they’re good at it too, but there’s always room for a touch of mischief and an unfailing appreciation for the imperfect. With a design ethos rooted in non-jewellery references, often pulling inspiration from ancient history, the advent of hip hop, counterculture commercialism and malocclusion – the organically flawed positioning of the teeth when the jaws are closed – there’s a subversive angst to every abstract cap, flat, gap filler, open face, bar and floating letter they cook up.
Almost everything is hand-carved in-house. María handles the enamelling and fine detail work while Bitter specialises in the stonework. On the business side of things, Bitter is charged with tackling the “serious financial business” and María manages the special projects and collaborations that they undertake. Recently, for example, the pair designed a pair of molten-textured gold grillz for House of The Dragon 2 star and everyone’s new internet crush Emma D’arcy who donned the mythologically sculpted caps at the season premiere in New York back in June.
Bitter and María’s grillz, much like the couple themselves, refuse to fit neatly into any box. And so, what began as a defiant act of self-teaching has evolved into a haven for those who crave the unconventional. A creative exchange as sharp-edged and eccentric as the teeth it adorns, as Bitter000000 bites back at tradition, one thing is clear: it isn’t just a brand; it’s a rebellion with a smile.
