On 12 May 2026, a short enquiry arrived in the Chemets inbox. Anton Premec attached a photograph and wrote that he would like a pendant three to four centimetres in diameter, with a metal base and colours matching the image. He asked for advice, a price, and an honest opinion on whether something like this could even be made.
Behind the question was a story Anton only shared later.
A decision made after illness
After surviving leukaemia, Anton decided to live his life differently. More authentically. Through his emotions, not past them. That decision gave rise to his book Dotik življenja (Touch of Life) — and alongside it, the desire to create something entirely his own.
A unique pendant in the shape of a blood drop. The drop that had won in his battle with the disease. A pendant he would give, together with the book, to the people who had stood by him through the hardest period of his life.
“For me it is not just an object. It carries a very personal story, gratitude, and a memory of a part of my life.”
Before coming to Chemets, Anton had presented his idea in several places. In some, the right technique was not available. In others, perhaps not enough willingness to take on a project that was somewhat different and more demanding than a standard order.
The hardest part of an unusual project is not the technical challenge. It is finding someone who will accept the challenge at all.
How the drop took shape
When Anton came to Chemets, what he had wanted from the very beginning finally happened: his idea was no longer a problem. It became a challenge that we took on with interest.
The starting point was the photograph Anton had attached to his first enquiry. Based on it, we drew the drop at Chemets — shaping it so that it stayed true to his vision while remaining reproducible.
We printed the drop in colour and laminated it — and here came the detail that made the pendant truly unique. Anton then hand-painted it himself with stronger colours. The finished piece was not only printed to his specification — it was also physically touched by his hand. That was not an incidental decision. It was part of what the pendant is: a personal object that must also carry a personal mark.
A pendant someone will wear as a reminder of the worst and the best in their life cannot look like a mass-produced item.
What Anton did not expect
The collaboration did not end with the pendant. When Anton mentioned the book, we at Chemets connected him with designer Monika Lampič from studio Utrinek. Monika took care of not just the design, but everything a book needs to actually come into the world and be sold — from graphic preparation to fulfilling all the professional requirements for publication. Here too, Anton’s previous experience had been different — some publishers had not even replied to his enquiry.
“Suddenly I was no longer hearing what couldn’t be done. Together we started looking for how it could be done.”
On 9 September 2026 we brought the project to a close over a modest lunch and coffee. Anton and his wife Valerija brought a gift. One of those meetings we will remember for a long time.
What remains
At the end, Anton wrote a letter. In it he described what had happened — not technically, but humanly. He wrote that the book and the pendant are normally intended for people who have meant something to him along the way, and that this time he gives them to Chemets with pleasure.
“When you encounter people who do not treat their work merely as a job, but put their heart, will and desire to help someone realise their idea into it — many things that yesterday seemed impossible suddenly begin to turn into possible.”
If you have a project that is different, more demanding or more personal than a standard order — get in touch. We start with a question about what you want to achieve.
