“For years, we have been playing with the concept of permanent jewelry in some form or another,” Vardi tells Vogue. “An old employee used to have my friend solder jewelry to her, and once we acquired a set of arc welders for our studio—which are much more ideal for the fine chain used in so many of our pieces—we really started to experiment. In the beginning, it was just our jewelers zapping each other and the rest of our staff, to the point where almost all of us have a permanent chain on our wrist. [But] we tested [the concept] with our customers at a ‘one night only’ event and had a really overwhelming turnout. Lots of women came in together for a best friends’ bracelet ritual.”

Photo: Courtesy of Catbird

Like any piece of jewelry you wear every day—an heirloom ring, your favorite necklace, or the semipermanent hoops lining your ears—the chains quickly become little symbols or reminders. Maybe you’re getting yours with a close friend, like Vardi mentioned, or you’re treating yourself to a hint of sparkle after a big promotion. “Permanency in fine jewelry is something that I think is really appealing to us and our customers,” she says. “It’s unfussy in the sense that you always have it on, but there’s also something inherently precious in wanting to keep something close to you always.” (In that way, it’s sort of like a tattoo: meaningful and intimate.) “It also seems to be a small thrill, that little ‘zap’ close to your skin,” she adds. “We want to tap more into this as we look to add to our welded offerings, but we’re not in any rush. It has to be the exact right pieces that speak to this desire.” In Catbird’s spacious, dreamy new office-slash-workshop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Vardi and Plessner were both modeling tiny welded ankle chains, which would be a huge hit this summer.

Of course, if that “zap” of a welding torch right next to your wrist sounds a little scary, there’s actually no fire involved. The process takes under three minutes: After determining the length of your chain, one of Catbird’s bench jewelers will snip it to size, wrap it around your wrist, and delicately hook the two ends together. Next, he or she will use an arc welder—which uses a tiny jolt of electricity in lieu of a flame—to join the ends. And then it’s on there for good. (If you need to take it off for some reason, you can easily cut it with a pair of scissors.)

It’s so quick and painless that you’ll probably want another one. And another, or maybe an anklet, a ring, or even a necklace. “We’ve had no shortage of requests coming in [for other welded styles], so we’re doing a lot of testing at our studio,” Vardi says. To get started with your first bracelet, you can stop by the Welding Annex on Fridays from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.