written by Colton Sun
The design and material of eastern and western jewellery are decidedly distinctive. Eastern creations underline auspicious messages for career, study and longevity featuring fei cui, pearl and gold. In the west, however, jewellery comes in a different perspective which expresses the inner charm of gemstones and designers’ style. Gemstones and diamonds are mounted in precious metals to jazz up wearer’s outfit.
The champion of open group (finished jewellery): retail price at or over US$10,000 in the Hong Kong Fei Cui Design Biennial Contest organised by the Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association (HKJJA), “Rising” earrings blends the two.
Outlined with electroplated blue titanium, the contour of “Rising” earrings captures the ancient auspicious clouds in the Wutai Mountain in Mogao Cave 61, a mural painting from Dunhuang oasis. Chinese designer Cameo Huang adroitly brought Chinese shadow puppetry into play. The trio of overlapping layers of paved sapphire and diamond clouds constructs a three-dimensional structure. Sandwiched between is a swayable layer. Fei cui beads, depicting gleams, loom through the clouds in a gentle breeze. The colours of starry blue and mossy green humbly share the limelight. This melting pot of international crowd-pleasing jewellery metals and traditional fei cui form, gives an ancient yet contemporary impression. Huang said the earrings imply career success comes with assiduousness.
Fei cui is cut and polished in a myriad of ways, banded together with an ingenious design, to fascinate young customers. Huang said thanks to an array of tints, the stone integrates well into contemporary jewellery. Her advice to designers is to pick fei cui that has fine and even texture with interlocking mineral crystals. The tough nature of the gemstone allows delicate craftsmanship.
Cameo Huang said: “More and more young customers have their eyes on fei cui. Our brand, Sub Rosa Jewelry, teamed up with Chinese formal dress brand Cocoonlee to debut jewellery series Ming Yuan last year. The begonia, magnolia, swallow and pomegranate-shaped pieces adhered to traditional design principle, which is to carry Chinese auspicious messages. Numbers of fei cui pieces in the series such as Ruyi and Just for Fan pendant won the hearts of youngsters.”
Ming Yuan series is a crossover collaboration. The models in the publicity photos wear Chinese clothing. Huang wishes to answer the quest for accessories to wear with Chinese attires. She believes that new Chinese art form has enormous potential in different creative dimensions, from architectural design to jewellery design and game development to furniture design, etc. There are ways to incorporate traditional culture and art into modern technology and materials so traditional culture can be passed on from one generation to the next.
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