4 days ago
Golden Heritage: Modern jewels with a look of Asian tradition
There's something interesting happening in the space of Asian jewels. As gold prices have soared and soared, the allure of yellow gold—the colour that best shows the precious metal's natural hues and lustre—has risen in tandem. Gold has become a popular and trending safe haven asset once more. Even as creative designers flock to silver for a more affordable medium, high-carat gold jewellery has gained in popularity. Think of it as a way to wear your investments.
That's become evident in the glut of brands offering high-karat gold pieces today. What used to be, frankly, dowdy and ostentatiously over-yellow (the sort of jewellery one might receive as a dowry or betrothal gift, say, that's kept in a safe and never worn) is taking on surprising new life.
Stalwart Singapore jewellers like Goldheart and Lee Hwa, for instance, have introduced new collections of high-karat jewellery that offer a more wearable contemporary sensibility. Goldheart's line is named Gu Fa Jin, which translates from mandarin to mean ancient, or traditional, gold; while Lee Hwa's is named Imperial Gold. Both, you'll notice, allude to time-honoured Chinese methods of gold jewellery craftsmanship.
This relation to heritage craftsmanship is also seeing a resurgence from Chinese and Hong Kong brands. Qeelin, a Hong Kong-based jeweller founded in 2004, is named after an auspicious Chinese mythical creature, and has a bestselling collection based on the traditionally lucky gourd designs of Chinese culture. It's a part of the Kering luxury conglomerate that owns brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. And while luxury fashion brands are, on the whole, seeing a slowdown, Kering reported that in the first quarter of 2025 'Qeelin achieved outstanding growth'.
Or look to the casino level of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, where one of China's buzziest new jewellers has recently opened up shop. Laopu Gold, founded in Beijing in 2009, translates from Mandarin to mean, incredulously humbly, 'old shop'. Think of it, perhaps, as analogous to the literal understatement of Bottega Veneta—which roughly means 'Venetian shop' in Italian.
Laopu trades on handcrafted high-karat gold—23-carats, or 990, or 99% gold by purity, and purports to use heritage savoir-faire that dates back to imperial palace jewellers. The look of its pieces—jewels, as well as lifestyle objects like hammered gold teapots and calligraphy brushes with bamboo-shaped gold handles—is deliciously luxe and cultured. Its success so far has earned it comparisons and monikers such as 'China's Hermès of gold'. Its outpost in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands is the brand's first outside of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
So it's clear that the aesthetic of Asian jewels is on the up. Here, Vogue curates a selection of pieces that, directly or obliquely, tap into the look. Courtesy of Risis
1 / 18 Risis SG60 Resilient Cambria Orchid brooch in encapsulated 24-carat Swiss gold and palladium with an Akoya pearl, $350, limited to 60 Courtesy of Qeelin
2 / 18 Qeelin Wulu petite necklace in 18-carat rose gold with diamonds and red agate, $2,800 Courtesy of Sue Ling
3 / 18 Sue Ling ring in 18-carat rose gold with imperial jade, diamonds, yellow sapphires, onyx and mother-of-pearl, price upon request Courtesy of State Property
4 / 18 State Property Idris Warisan bangle in 18-carat yellow gold with diamonds, $8,750 Courtesy of B.P. de Silva
5 / 18 B.P. de Silva Horizon Infinite Band in 18-carat yellow and white gold with diamonds, $9,000 Courtesy of Boucheron
6 / 18 Boucheron Serpent Bohème anklet in 18-carat yellow gold with diamonds, $6,550 Courtesy of Buccellati
7 / 18 Buccellati Opera Tulle bracelet in 18-carat yellow gold, $5,300 Courtesy of Carrie K
8 / 18 Carrie K Blessings Jade Twisty bangle in 14-carat yellow gold with jade and diamonds, $1,950 Courtesy of Goldheart
9 / 18 Goldheart Gu Fa Jin ring in 24-carat gold, $2,340 Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
10 / 18 Louis Vuitton Idylle Blossom ring in 18-carat pink gold with diamonds, $8,250 Courtesy of Lee Hwa
11 / 18 Lee Hwa Imperial Gold earrings in 24-carat yellow gold with diamonds, $528 Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
12 / 18 Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti Bean design ring in 18-carat yellow gold with jade, $2,900 Courtesy of Anabela Chan
13 / 18 Anabela Chan Petunia vermeil ring with lab-grown pink sapphire, £1,190 Courtesy of Pomellato
14 / 18 Pomellato Nudo bracelet in 18-carat rose gold with brown diamonds and white topazes, $13,500 Courtesy of Goldheart
15 / 18 Goldheart Gu Fa Jin Qing Hua earrings in 24-carat yellow gold, price upon request Courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels
16 / 18 Van Cleef & Arpels Perlée Toi & Moi secret watch in 18-carat rose gold with green jasper, rose quartz, diamonds and mother-of-pearl, $52,000 Courtesy of Chaumet
17 / 18 Bee de Chaumet Pompon pendant in 18-carat yellow gold with diamonds, $32,900 Courtesy of Chow Tai Fook
18 / 18 Chow Tai Fook Rouge pendant in 24-carat yellow gold with diamonds and red enamel, $7,000
