"Helios" siblings, this is A Nghia! I'm delighted to have the opportunity to appear on this blog post with BLACK SUN CLUB, a peaceful place where everyone can share their own story. When HELIOS invited me to be the one to "restart" the project, I felt incredibly honored. Through my humble writing, I'd like to share a short autobiography, recalling the early days of A Nghia with HELIOS. I hope to contribute a little positive energy, like the early morning sun from Sunflower, to encourage all the siblings who have relentlessly strived on their own journeys.
✦
"Sunflower" - Facing the sun. No longer just the name of a flower, it is now a special connection between me and HELIOS.
Looking back...
I was a boy passionate about jewelry, to be precise. I started my exploration with small orders on the "orange floor" (e-commerce platform), mostly advertised as stainless steel, but after only 2-3 days of wearing, they would tarnish, change color, turning green, yellow, black, purple on my neck and hands. At that time, I had no concept of Titanium, steel,... I only knew gold was something adults liked to own, white gold was what my mother liked to wear, and silver was the name of a color, or the element Ag... I once owned over 200 pieces of jewelry bought from there, expensive ones, cheap ones, "50k mixed bags", all kinds of designs in the world, but not a single one made me pause long enough like... (Wait! No Sunflower yet here, lol) the "Nam Quoc Son Ha" collection from HELIOS: one is a sculpted ring on the finger commemorating the day the country was unified, and the other is a bright national flag beating along with my heart.
At that time, I bought a silver ring with a 6-month installment plan...
Nam Quoc Son Ha, an impressive name for two products inspired by Vietnam's first declaration of independence. During the April 30th holiday that year, HELIOS launched it for the first time, but I didn't dare to buy it then; as a student, I just looked at the price and sadly exited. After that night, having the opportunity to join many people in the biggest "sleep out" in Saigon's history, I carried a sense of regret for not acquiring these two masterpieces before they stopped being sold. I was sad, but there was nothing I could do; I blamed myself for not earning enough money to buy what I liked. But unexpectedly, on National Day, the two creations returned like a miracle just for me. This time, without hesitation, I swiftly swiped my card and converted it into a 6-month installment plan for the ring on the orange floor. Even though I had to eat instant noodles, this was probably the moment when A Nghia's journey with HELIOS sparked its first flames, stemming from a thousand years of history subtly condensed to accompany the wearer's finger.
The sacred fire was lit, sowing the first sparks.
So I had my first silver ring. At that time, silver wasn't as expensive as it is now. My mother scolded me after accidentally finding out the price was nearly two million dong for a piece of jewelry that wasn't gold (laughs), but how could I blame her? It's an adult's perspective. I was engrossed with the ring on my hand, experiencing for the first time a material that I had only seen extensively in children's jewelry for warding off evil winds or in Western exorcism films. I felt a very different energy from it. Silver is cold but not "dull" like steel; silver gave me a solid, firm feeling and eliminated the worry of oxidation, because real silver will definitely tarnish, but it's easy to fix. Due to work, I couldn't wear jewelry to work. Every morning, before leaving, I would take a moment to admire the golden star. Every night, when I returned, I would spend every small moment cleaning and polishing the ring that carried the soul of my homeland. Days passed, and I delved deeper into the beauty of Thai silver. For the first time, after three months, I visited the HELIOS website, hoping to find something that I didn't need to wear on my hand, something that could help me earn money to buy other things (haha). I looked and looked, but couldn't find anything I liked. I was almost fed up until my gaze was caught by a star of hope: Hoia Baciu. Indeed, this felt like a fated creation. At a time when the four-pointed star motif was popular in the market, often symbolizing AI, something considered a human "breakthrough," so was Hoia Baciu. Although not sparkling, these were not the faint four points among the stars out there; Hoia Baciu bore the image of a stylized sunflower in a Gothic style, impressive with its name taken from the majestic forest in Romania. Being fond of flowers and plants, I quickly took root with the first Sunflower seed in my garden, in a way I never thought possible, probably summed up in two words: "fortunate encounter."
Tilling the soil, creating the garden.
There was a time when Hoia Baciu always accompanied me to work as a special highlight. I always cherished it as the fruit of my honest labor. Every day, I learned more about Sunflower; the pristine beauty of the recreated forests in each product gently rooted deeper into my mind. Coincidentally, December 2025 also marked the first time HELIOS held the BLACK SUNDAY event, a significant milestone that motivated me to pursue new goals I had long harbored. I acquired more new flowers for myself, including the Lotusgot lotus and the Aegis Chrysaber chrysanthemum. But the longer we were together, the more I felt I belonged to the flower that believed in the sun. Sunflower always gave me a very different kind of energy, always reminding me, "Nghia, try harder, focus on the positive, and you will succeed."
Flowers bloom, for the sun. Flowers guide me towards the light within my soul.
I am an overthinker; there were days when I had no faith in myself. "I went to school but can't apply my knowledge, I'm young but have no time to go out, I don't get to do what I love, me, me, me..." Dozens of thoughts competed each day to manifest in my mind, and I dare say almost all of them were unpleasant. At these times, I often looked back at where I poured my heart: a garden of silver flowers that doesn't emit fragrance but radiates its own eternal energy. I tried to remember why I bought them.
- "Didn't I try so hard to get Hoia Baciu?"
- "Didn't I think I missed out on Taman Negara, but somehow the person who got it voluntarily gave it back to me?"