A Gem from the Far East

Her jewellery is a riveting confluence of the East and the West, with gemstones that are rare and miraculous. Anna Hu talks to Vijetha Rangabashyam about how she translated her love for music to gemstones, the chemistry she shares with her artisans, creating a high jewellery empire led by an Asian woman and more.

Over the years, the Far East has produced jewellery designers who have moved mountains to create fascinating pieces of jewellery. They’ve always created pieces that are larger than life and so alive with precision that is unreal. In this rank of designers or shall we say artists, is New York-based Taiwanese jeweller Anna Hu, whose brand also happens to be the first contemporary high jewellery brand to host a solo exhibition at Christie’s. An ace cellist who has played with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Hu decided to make something of her dalliance with gemstones after a shoulder injury from over-practicing. “I was born and raised in a family that has been into gemstone business. When I was little, I had always stayed with my father, helping him sort out different types of gemstones by shapes, colours, sizes and cuts; it was just like playing with Lego bricks but with gemstones,” she says.

Her vivid green ‘Orpheus’ ring with oval jadeite cabochon fetched 20 million HK dollars (€2 million) at Christie’s. We still feel the heat of her electric red ‘Fire Phoenix’ earrings worn by actress Gwenyth Paltrow with two gigantic cabochon Rubellites set in a blaze of white and yellow Diamonds, blue, pink and purple Sapphires, Spinels, Paraiba Tourmalines and white gold. This is what she best does, creating headline grabbing jewels that are seldom forgotten. “It was my father who encouraged me to take a different path in life, telling me that I have always had a talent in gemstones and colours since I was born. Once I started studying jewellery design, I felt enlightened. Maybe God gave me a destiny not to be a player, but a composer. Every stone from a geologist perspective is equivalent to musical notes in a composition. Creating music and jewellery are fundamentally the same to me. I analyze the stones with pure logic; and as in the music field, I transform this logic into a creative designing process.”

When she was 13, Hu was given a full scholarship by the Taiwanese government to attend the prestigious Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. During this time, she also studied sculpture, ceramics, photography, musical composition and visual art. She then finished her studies in GIA, Parsons, FIT and Columbia, garnering several degrees in a span of 5 years. Before launching her eponymous label, Hu worked at Christie’s, Van Cleef & Arpel’s and Harry Winston. “I am always looking to grow and outdo my current self, so my vision reflects that. I will be designing rare, artful jewels for at least another 50 years. There are too many male-dominated jewellery houses. As the only Asian jeweller admitted into Le Comité de la Haute Joaillerie, Paris and to be featured on the official couture calendar in Paris, I would like to build an ever-lasting Asian female-led jewellery house that will flourish forever.”

In her latest book “Symphony of Jewels: Opus 2” Hu presents a selection of iconic pieces created over the past five to seven years. Organized in five sections, Opus 2 begins with a collection of ballerina fairies, delicate dancers swathed in flowerinspired tutus. Chinese art, myths, and symbols, ranging from leaping koi to lotus flowers representing the power and transformation, are the inspiration for the second section. The next chapter “Duet and Trio” showcases gorgeous two- and three-piece sets featuring magnificent matching stones. The Contemporary Art section consists of extraordinarily imaginative, complex pieces referencing a wide range of themes, from the sun, stars, and moon to the ocean and marine flora and fauna, to the Art Deco architecture of New York. The book ends with the remarkable collection of butterflies, each inspired by a beloved piece of music and a mythological god or goddess.

From cherry blossoms, lotuses, orchids and butterflies to impressionism, her reflection of nature through design is profound. “Everything I see in daily lives while I travel inspires me. To be more specific, elements such as impressionist colours, details of a dragonfly’s body and its transparent wing, textures, musical instrument of the Silk Road such as Pipa are all examples of my inspiration. There are also inspirations from certain pigment of colours, literature, motifs from paintings, nature and architecture; in fact, I have always woken up in the middle of the night with all kinds of fresh ideas.”

Her surreal interpretation of Monet’s Water Lilies is by far her best work. Although to pit her creations against each other and rank them feels rather unfair. “I created my most significant piece, Monet Water Lilies Necklace while I spent my summer in Giverny, France, and specifically, at the Claude Monet gardens. This piece pays homage to the Impressionist works that transcends the boundary of time. Another creation that illustrates how I retrieve my inspiration is the Fire Phoenix earrings. Reminiscent of the early 19th-century pendeloque earrings, the set’s double pear-shaped Rubellites weigh a total of 124 carats. Legend has it that the immortal phoenix sets itself on fire at the end of its life cycle, and I mix this tale with my own—of a raging blaze I witnessed on a trip to Bhutan—producing a oneof- a-kind gem that does not actually feature the mystical bird, yet equally does.”

When Hu works on her design rendering, she loves to be stimulated visually and acoustically at the same time. Nearly every one of her creations can be associated with a piece of music or an artwork that she put herself imaginatively in. She sees, she hears, she feels, and she creates – that’s how she translates her inspiration into design. “My pieces are all created in my French or New York workshop by well-experienced artisans who have been working for big jewellery houses for years. To finish a piece takes more than a year, which is a serious commitment to me as I oversee each step with my professional-trained artisans.”

Most of her patrons are independent, modern women who know what they want and are very determined in achieving their goals. They have excellent tastes, classic and elegant. A lover of colours, Hu is drawn to a different stones with no particular favourite. “In terms of materials, I’m now experimenting with technology in titanium as my patrons nowadays prefer to wear lighter jewels.I believe that it is important for me to be consistent with my design style. The good thing about design is that there is no right or wrong – I have the full control of everything and don’t have to worry about making any mistakes.”

Hu’s jewels have won her loyalists all over the world, particularly those who want pieces that are works of art. “When my clients come to me to commission a one-of-a-kind high jewellery piece, they’re always looking for something unique that they can pass on to their children for generations, a family emblem. This is still the case, while younger, uprising millennial clientele, on the other hand, are looking for jewellery that they can wear every day. No matter what, high jewellery market will continue to grow and expand its share in overall global luxury market for sure. Jewellery is the best representation of its owner and wearer. The trend that I’ve observed with my clients is that people nowadays look for something that can retain a longer investment value, and they don’t like their jewellery to be heavy. Instead, they like their jewellery to be playful and sometimes multi-functional.”

What is next in line for this designer, who is constantly trying to challenge herself? “The next goal in my career is to create jewels for a wider spectrum of women, from babies to grandmas. Every female deserves to own a piece of jewel that speak for themselves and represent them personally. So I’m currently working on expanding the market and spending a lot of time in new product research and development.”

Hu is now working on a beautiful bracelet, inspiration for which she received from one of her many visits to Morocco. “Its exotic culture has always amazed me. I am now working on an idea which is borrowed from the patterns of Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca.”

Her reigning success as a jeweller is also because of the symbiotic relationship she shares with her artisans. “I feel so touched by how they pay close attention to every detail. You can see how every member in my team has strong OCD, obsessed with every tiny detail and how they treat my creation with respect.”