The story of Edward Chiu Jewellery Art began 22 years ago when the late Edward Chiu decided to express his visions with jadeite, a material readily available to him given the fact his family owns a jadeite trading business. Such privileged access to raw materials allowed his designers to envision the design first and then go search for the best-suited materials. The brand has a distinctive design philosophy where priority is not given to highlighting the fineness of jadeite nor is it to accommodate the characteristics of the material by altering the design. In their jewellery, the material only serves as a vehicle of artistic expression, and they think the value of jewellery should not be limited to the material.
For instance, except for the process of initial rough slicing that is done by machine, the rest of the procedures in jewellery making are all done by hand by a team of 10 master craftsmen in the brand’s workshop in Hong Kong. Given the intricate and complex designs of their jewellery, each piece could take a craftsman between three and six months to finish and the workshop may only produce one to two pieces each month, said Eddy Hui, director of the company to Hong Kong Jewellery. When asked how the brand could secure jade carving talents in the future to ensure sustainable business, he nonchalantly said it is difficult. As experienced jade craftsmen are in serious shortage nowadays and their creations can only be produced by hand, the only thing they could do now is to steadily develop the brand as issues related to recruitment take time to be solved, he added. Emphasising art over jewellery, the brand is keener on joining art shows and museum exhibitions rather than trade shows. For instance, they chose to exhibit the Lady Lavender and Shine collections at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Currently, their only retail outlet is their shop at the International Financial Centre in Hong Kong, which bears strategic significance as the mall attracts the right kind of consumers who are able to appreciate the brand’s take on jadeite jewellery, and makes an effort to include independent as well as art and design-oriented brands in its portfolio. In the future the brand hopes to engage in more partnerships with different art institutions overseas.
Apart from the museum masterpieces, the most notable style in Edward Chiu Jewellery Art could be represented by the Black & White Jade collection. Casual and modern, the luxurious jewellery is suitable for everyday occasions. In place of traditional round jadeite bangles, they surprise customers with an innovative black and white jadeite open bangle which can be worn in two ways. Another example of their attention to consumer’s experience and practicality is that all their earrings could also be worn as pendants. The brand seeks to transcend tradition without losing touch with history. To illustrate the story behind the name ‘fei cui’, the brand has created jadeite pieces of the ‘fei’ (the male) and ‘cui’ (the female) birds, after which the gemstone is named.
Such idealistic pursuit of art could mean a bumpy journey for the brand. Hui said, the price of the finest rough jadeite has increased by three to 10 times during the last decade. In addition, the presence of a larger number of jadeite jewellery businesses in China has caused a fiercer competition for raw materials. Nevertheless, Hui observed that there is an increase in overall supply, except that quality materials have become rarer and rarer. Rising wages and gold price are among other difficulties of lesser significance, while their biggest headache is the soaring rent. While many jewellers are selling online, Hui deems it incompatible with their brand. “It may be okay to purchase a branded garment online since you will get the same product at store. We sell unique jewels, the online platform is unsuitable at the moment,” said Hui.
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