12h in Hong Kong & Obellery Jewellery

This year I flew to Hong Kong but didn’t get to spend a lot of time in town. To be honest, I think I spent more or less 12 hours in town, just enough to do a quick visit to my favorite places and to catch up with the Obellery Jewellery team at the PMQ building.

If you missed the studio visit I did in 2014, go check them out here. They have a very cool studio and gallery, they do some amazing contemporary jewelry, they support local designers as well and teach jewelry classes. And they did pretty much everything around the studio as well (the mirrors, the benches, the jewelry… you get the point). And they said yes to my studio visit when I was just starting my blog, so I’m eternally thankful!

Since this time I didn’t planed to stay in Hong Kong, this was a surprise visit. Lucky me, Hugo and Belinda were there on a Sunday afternoon. Kody was on vacation and I got to meet the new member of their team, Wing Chan who does these amazing necklaces with old Hong Kong mail boxes. And I had only my phone with me, so these are all iPhone photos

Both Bel and Hugo were doing well and I learned that they are currently the finalists of Lane Crawford’s PLATFORM initiative, that helps to nurture and grow emerging talent. Basically they’re looking for emerging young entrepreneurs, brands and designers to pitch their product or their work for promotion in Lane Crawford stores across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and online. Obellery is currently a finalist and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they are selected to sell at the Lane Crawford stores (go Obellery team!)

I also asked Hugo about that ring he was doing last time I visited (approximately one year ago) and we all laughed cause it’s not finished yet. And the truth is, I don’t think it will ever be. He tells me it has evolved into other shapes and he’s coming up with new pieces based on geometric forms and angles. And bear in mind, all of this is fabricated.

As for Bel, she was working on some cool opal earrings and I got to see some of her new brooches and work. I also spotted her cool protection glasses, that looked pretty much like the sexy librarian style. She wouldn’t put them on for me (she knew I would post them on the blog), so there’s just this shot of the glasses. To be honest, I think I’m gonna buy a pair for me as well.

It was fun to catch up with the Obellery team and I promised that next time I would not rush and do a proper recap of their studio.

And because I know Hugo hates to take photos I asked for one, with the whole (available) team. So sad that had to be so quick, but it’s a promise, I’ll be back next year. Thanks Obellery team!

Studio space: to share or not to share?

On the plane back, working on a new post for SpaceUnseen, I started counting the number of studio visits I’ve made. One year and 3 months since the beginning of this blog and I’ve visited 25 jewelry studios in different cities around the world. I feel grateful and always surprised when designers answer yes to my request. (How weird must it be to get an email from someone asking to come snoop around your studio space?) Still, I’ve been having a blast and I’ve had the chance to meet extremely talented and interesting people that have a very special gift.

And the more studios I visit the more I realize that everybody is different. Studios are big and small, clean and messy, in one corner of the house or just a full space completely renovated by the designer. All spaces are unique, charming and special. Why?

I think the jewelry designer makes the space. It’s their tastes, their organization and inspiration that make the studio. The way they work also makes the space (which is reflected in the tools they have). And who they work with: some work alone, some share their space with other designers and some have their own big operation with a team working with them. And all of these differences have proved extremely interesting.

On one hand, designers who work alone seem to have a more conceptual, contemporary approach to design ( I would include the design duos in here). Designers who share their space with other designers (same field or not) like their individuality but love the fact that they can talk business, technique and cheer each other up. And designers who have teams, usually have them because they have considerable volume production, and the whole team usually feels like a big family.

I know there are pros and cons for each side, but I would love to hear your side of the story.

So what do you think or what have your experience been?

From top to bottom, from right to left:

Ana Sales and Mafalda Maya (M + M jewellery) in Lisbon, Beth Gilmour in London, Clarice Price Thomas in London, Claudia Endler in LA, Corinne Simon in Santa Monica, Dede Marconato in Hong Kong, Daphna Simon in NYC, Janis Kerman in Montreal, Malin Ohlsson in Hong Kong, Martha Keith in Charlottesville, Michele Mercaldo in Boston, Noemi Klein in London, Michelle Oh and Rachel Boston in London, Nomera in Hong Kong, the Obellery team in Hong Kong(Hugo, Bel and Kody), the OrriFinn team in Reykjavik (Helga and Orri), Sebastiao Lobo in Lisbon, Sophie Breitmeyer in London, Sophie Hughes in Boston, the Rebecca Overmann team in San Francisco, Katherine (Rosedale Jewelry) in Los Angeles, Khobe (studio DeLucca) in Long Beach and Tyson (T Morgan made) in Los Angeles.

Hong Kong: a Jewelry Metropolis

If you’re thinking traditional jewelry, carved with diamonds, precious gemstones and jade then this is not the Hong Kong jewelry that I’m gonna show you. I’ve recently been to this city and had the fortune to visit 4 jewelry designers that are changing the jewelry scene in the city with their contemporary designs. Their studios and designs are fun, modern and captivating, while they manage to create everything themselves in their spaces. I was really impressed with them because they manage to pursue their passion in one of the most expensive cities in the world, where space in scarce and extremely expensive. So yes, made in China but not on a factory.

Stay tuned for the studio visits as I will phase them out over the next weeks.