YU LAN BURKMAR

Taiwan’s first and oldest national park, Kenting National Park, is a location of spectacular beauty sitting along the Hengchun Peninsula.

Taiwan is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Yu Lan Burkmar.

The basis of Burkmar’s classic aesthetic lies within her use of both organic and universal design patterns.

The minutiae that she implements are the bold iridescent color of anodized aluminum, and the creamy glow of white silver.

The gentle twists, curves and folds of Burkmar’s designer jewelry are fluid. The anodized aluminum discs explode with bountiful, glossy colors of orange, fuchsia, red, and blue.

For some designs, like her Red Aluminum Button Cluster Pendant, she mixes different shades of one color. For others, such as her Blue Aluminum 18-Button Bracelet, she blends and mixes in variegated streaks of color.



The gorgeous, satiny white pendants and silver cufflinks from Burkmar’s Mini Chilli Collection are highlighted by soft, petal-like designs that provide an easy accent of sophistication and elegance.

“The silver used in my jewelry is Britannia Silver, which is 95.8% pure. I use this as its increased purity helps me maintain the “white” color that is very much a part of my designs.

The whiteness is achieved by annealing the metal which raises the fine silver to the surface. The process is called White Cooking,” says Burkmar. “For my aluminum jewelry, I pre-anodize it by treating it with an electrical current to break the surface enabling paints or dyes to be stained on the metal.

I paint the colors by hand, and I permanently seal the colors by placing the sheets in boiling water. I then prepare small sheets for cutting and forming by hand.”

The England-based Burkmar also works with her jeweler husband, Paul, in which they merge their talents to create designs in gold and platinum.

Burkmar’s solo works with anodized aluminum, platinum, and silver has garnered her prestigious awards including Taiwan’s Best Contemporary Jeweler, and the United Kingdom’s Best Emerging Designer in Platinum.
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Photo 1 (top right): Blue/Purple Aluminum Flower Cluster Link Necklace
Photo 2 (center): Purple Aluminum Art Collection Bangle BraceletPhoto 3 (bottom left): Mini Chilli Triple Silver Pendant