Seventh generation Chapel Hill jeweler William Travis (williamtravisjewelry.com) designed and fabricated the fabulous crown featured in the dramatic finale of Outer Banks Season 4, “The Blue Crown,” streaming on Netflix. The first half of the season debuted with 15.5 million views, topping Netflix’s ranks. The central intrigue of the final plot’s treasure hunt revolves around the storied artifact.
Netflix Calls
Travis’s family has been in the jewelry business for 250 years. “I’ve known what I was going to do since I was 12 years old. I just assumed everybody loved what they did, the way I do.” He designs and fabricates exquisite original pieces, so far winning 18 Spectrum awards.
A #1 Netflix series, a mythical crown, top Hollywood celebrities, ancient stolen Angkor treasures, Blackbeard’s pirate booty, on set in Morocco.
A chance meeting years ago with Orlando Bloom, who was filming nearby on the set of the movie “Main Street,” led to Travis working with Orlando, Colin Firth and Miley Cyrus. “One of the support crew, in props, came to my store and said, ‘Do you change watch batteries?’ ‘I do it all.’ He walked around my store, and said, ‘I really love your jewelry. When this movie’s over I’m going to Savannah to work on another movie with Miley Cyrus. And we need a line of jewelry for it. Would you be interested?’”
Travis for years has worked with top production companies including Disney and Netflix, supplied specialty products for Game of Thrones, done repair and restoration of swords and armor for the Smithsonian. He’s well known and trusted in the industry. “It’s wonderful and a great honor. When I think of all the metalsmiths that Netflix could call in the world, they repeatedly call me. There are so few true metalsmiths left.”
“We’ve designed complex pieces for film and TV before, and Netflix knew they could rely on us to create something worthy of the series.” An earlier attempt by Netflix to create the crown fell short, pushing production into overdrive. When the call came, Netflix told Travis he had to deliver in 4-5 weeks. Travis confirmed they could, but it would be a rush. And it would be expensive – the amount of unique specialty custom work required would require Netflix to buy all his time.
The Crown’s Magical Lore
The crown was inspired by a recently uncovered artifact from the Cambodian Khmer Empire, the Angkor Blue Crown, from between the 9th and 14th centuries, when the Khmer empire was a dominant force in southeast Asia. The Outer Banks Netflix series plot – a treasure hunt for a long lost treasure rumored to have magical properties – is loosely based on a true story. Netflix sent Travis a picture of the original crown – gold with blue sapphires – which recently surfaced in a British collector’s private collection in London. The Angkor crown jewels was in 2023 returned to Cambodia by the family of British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, who died in 2020 while awaiting trial for art trafficking. The trove of 77 precious metal objects including crowns, necklaces, bracelets, belts and amulets from the Angkorian and pre-Angkorian period, many never seen by the public, was assumed to have been stolen, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Culture. Previously the crown was last spotted on Blackbeard the pirate’s ship in the 1700s, off the coast of North Carolina.
Travis also created for the Netflix series an epic citrine pendant of 462 carats, central to the plot’s unfolding – the treasure map for locating the crown is viewed through the lens of the citrine pendant.
Rallying To Beat the Deadline in Tucson
Travis received the Netflix call while in Tucson at the colored gem show. He immediately rallied. “If I weren’t in Tucson, it couldn’t have been done.” With just four weeks to complete the crown, William Travis used his industry connections closely available in Tucson to source rare materials, including a four-foot sheet of 16 gauge silver and a 24 karat 40 micron gold coating. “Normally, these materials would have taken weeks to acquire, but I was able to get what we needed thanks to friends I’ve known for years.”
Handcrafting the entire piece, Travis enlisted help from metalsmiths worldwide. The gold plating was ultimately done in Istanbul. “We were working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. We had a lot of help.” The crown features synthetic sapphires and custom-cut gemstones, including the centerpiece – a deep blue gem made from cobalt glass, due to time constraints.
“The challenge wasn’t just the materials, but the craftsmanship required. Each bezel was handmade. There was no time to ship the finished piece,” Travis recalls. “So, Netflix flew me half way around the world to deliver it in person.”
Hand Delivering The Crown On Set in Morocco
In a final twist of fate, on the Monday before he was set to fly to Morocco to deliver the crown on set on Saturday, Travis fell while retrieving a big limb from massive live oak trees at the beach and cracked seven ribs. Undeterred, he boarded the plane on schedule and delivered the crown. “They were losing money every day on the set the crown was not available. There was heightened security at the airport – with bodyguards. Customs was a bit tricky, as it looked like we might be bringing in rare antiquities.” Travis spent two weeks on set, meeting all the cast. “The Atlas mountain range in southern Morocco where the mountains meet the desert is a central hub for the entire film industry in Africa. Game of Thrones was shot here. Several different film crews were at our central hotel, including celebrities such as Anthony Hopkins, who was filming at the time. The Outer Banks cast were spectacular!”
The Promise of the Future
Back home in North Carolina, Travis had the opportunity to take his 14 year old daughter Veda to meet some of the film crew in Charlottesville, a memorable experience. “Veda works at our retail store. During the past holiday season, she sold more than anyone else!” Travis’s 19 year old son Liam (short for “William”) is already active in the business, learning the trade, working with his father. With the 8th William Travis generation already rising, the future looks bright. Travis recently opened a brand new retail store.
“My philosophy of always saying yes has been a huge positive factor in my career. People and companies love to deal with happy, positive people who can deliver on time.” Based on the amazing success of the Netflix crown saga, we can’t wait to see the next step unfold – maybe enhanced with touch of magic?
