ANNA HU

One of Taiwan's oldest Buddhist temples, the Lungshan or Dragon Mountain Temple, is world-renowned for its stunning architectural details designed to honor Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. Taiwan is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Anna Hu.

Presently based in New York, Hu's custom-made, luxury jewelry brings to mind the multifaceted, intricate work of fellow Taiwanese designer Cindy Chao.

Like Chao, Hu's pieces highlight elaborate and painstaking artistry with exquisite pavé stone settings of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. It is a stunning visual feast.

A young phenom, at age 14 Hu studied to become a solo cellist at Massachusetts' arts boarding school Walnut Hill. However, four years later, tendonitis in her shoulder would force her to relinquish her dream.

Though heartbroken, the jewelry artist recalled childhood memories of assisting her father, a diamond wholesaler, with his precious inventory. The recollection served as a strong incentive that moved Hu into a new career path.

"I opened the door to my father's workspace and lying there was a pile of raw, rock diamonds," says Hu. "I was eight years old and I fell in love with them the moment my father asked me to sort them according to size and shape. I will always remember that day."

Girding herself with two master degrees--one in Art History, and the second in Arts Administration--and a gemologist degree, Hu developed her craft while working at famed jewelry houses Van Cleef & Arpels, and the House of Harry Winston.


Employment with such large houses confined the greatest extent of Hu's creativity, and she chose to pave a road for herself with the help of mentor Maurice Galli.

Using Viennese paintings, and the lilting melodies of Tchaikovsky as inspiration, Hu creates ethereal items that are both lyrical and whimsical.

Her Butterfly Fairies Brooch is a delicate replication of the insects with beautiful detail. Their open wings laced with dollops of colored gemstones and white diamonds is like a flowing, gentle melody.

The Moonlight Bangle is a blend of pavé set white diamonds and a lovely cluster of muted moonstones that resemble floating bubbles. The Ruyi Cloud Bangle features a gorgeous mosaic pattern of gemstones while the Gershwin Jazz Bangle, with its gem encrusted musical staff and notes, is capricious yet stunning in its intricacy.

Even Hu's streamlined Joking Love Knot Series maintains a level of complexity in its curves and twists. "To me jewelry design is like composing music.

I listen to Rachmaninoff, and Bach when I design. I feel the technical challenge, and like, convert the complexities into the jewelry."

With such immense design detail, it came as no surprise to learn that Hu's custom-designed creations take up to one to two years to complete.

"Each project is very different. I create something organic that harmonizes with the client's personality and style.

I am obsessed with making jewelry. It's not even a passion anymore. I have so many ideas that I even dream about gemstones."

Hu's magnificent pieces are available at New York's Plaza Hotel, and the Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie boutique in Taiwan.
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Photo 1 (top right): Leaping Koi Ring
Photo 2 (center): 18-Karat White Gold Knot Ring with Rubies
Photo 3 (bottom left): Moonstone and Pavé Diamond Moonlight Bangle

REENA AHLUWALIA

The Lotus Temple of Delhi, India is a marvel of architectural design. Its construction required that it be built with nine sides. These `sides' consist of three clusters of "free-standing marble clad petals." India is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Reena Ahluwalia.


I made note in another post that India has an enduring jewelry history where body ornaments are more than mere decoration; they are ceremonial offerings, dowries, and symbols of royal abundance.

The country is perhaps best known for the exquisite quality of its filigree and meenakari jewelry. In my opinion, no one takes artistry, color, and intricacy to the level of Indian jewelers.

Presently based in Toronto, Canada, Ahluwalia's jewelry easily falls into this awe-inspiring category. Although--based on what I have seen online--in terms of color she does not entirely follow the traditional meenakari style, her design quality, however, is just as complex and striking. It is ambitious jewelry; elaborate, bold, and extravagant while maintaining a certain amount of delicacy and femininity.

Intrigued by an ancient, Indian poem that depicted two lovers passionately engaged in coitus wearing nothing but their jeweled possessions, Ahluwalia built a design approach that highlighted jewelry's sensual connection to the body.

"In India, jewelry is a part of the body; it’s a part of your skin. I began to explore around the body with extreme exaggeration," she says.

Ahluwalia constructs contemporary and futuristic items that transcend the traditional extravagance of Indian jewelry, working with 18-karat white and yellow gold, Tahitian pearls, and white diamonds (the designer's signature).

The part-time technical drawing instructor's incredible Ethereal Rhapsody neckpiece, a snaking arc of white gold, Tahitian pearls, and black and white diamonds, grandly displays this transcendent quality. Her lavish 18-karat white gold, white diamonds and red enamel Bel Canto Choker is the designer's homage to opera.

"Bel Canto means `beautiful singing.' The design is inspired by the sheer experience of opera. Opera can be playful, prayerful, haunting, and incredibly versatile. I wanted to create a feeling of being suspended in space, surrounded by music."

The exquisite piece is featured on an Antwerp, Belgium postage stamp in celebration of "a five-stamp collection entitled Antverpia 2010.

The city of Antwerp is responsible for about 80% of the worldwide trade of rough diamonds. Diarough, a Belgium-based diamond dealer, collaborated with the designer on the stunning Bel Canto piece.

For me, Ahluwalia is yet another example of what true inspiration can cultivate. It cannot be cultivated simply by saying I am inspired but by capturing whatever has struck imagination's chord by sketching, taking notes, or taking a photo.

This stroke of imagination is then brought into the creation process where an instinctual awakening lends itself to the formation of breathtaking jewelry.

"I am a hands-on person. I was always exploring; playing with wood, paper, and wire. My aesthetic is a conversation between line, structure, and color. I love to explore geometry and exaggerated forms but I like subtlety as well. Overall, I have no boundaries."
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Photo 1 (top right): 18-Karat White Gold Bel Canto Choker with White Diamonds and Red Enamel
Photo 2 (bottom left): 18-Karate White Gold Ethereal Rhapsody Neckpiece with Tahitian Pearls, Pavé Set Black Diamonds and Prong Set White Diamonds

TOM HERMAN

Today we visit New York's Saratoga National Historical Park that preserves military sites significant to the Battles of Saratoga fought during the American Revolutionary War. New York is also home to featured jewelry designer Tom Herman.

CINDY CHAO

With the majestic backdrop of Snow Mountain, Taiwan's beautiful Fushan Botanical Garden is a virtual wonder of natural beauty. The picturesque grounds house more than 6, 000 plants and is known as the largest botanical garden in Asia. Taiwan is also home to featured jewelry designer Cindy Chao.

The creation process is an aspect of jewelry design and making that is as fascinating as a designer's creative process.

Personally, I see the two as separate, one involving the conceptual groundwork, and the other the actual construction.

For me, learning about techniques like filigree, wire wrapping, enameling, repoussé and chasing, and granulation re-emphasizes the technical skill and precision required to cultivate jewelry pieces of remarkable complexity and beauty.

Chao's stunning jewelry collections reflect intricate, detailed artisanship rendered through painstaking and time-consuming work.

The graduate of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), and certified gemologist, Chao creates magnificent pieces of staggering opulence that are reminiscent of Bao Bao Wan (China).

"There was a point in 2007 when I went through a rough patch in my jewelry-making career," she says. "Initially, my work was conservative, traditional pieces, but I knew I would not be able to thrive much longer in the market if I continued doing that type of jewelry."

Inspired by Asian art and architecture, Chao's bold yet elegant design contours are fashioned from 18-karat yellow, white and oxidized gold, golden, and white pearls, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

Her Mysteries of the East collection highlight beautiful, bold colored gemstones within streamlined proportions, while the Paradise collection features a stunning ring holding a spectacular blue stone in a talon-like setting that is offset by a twined shank of 18-karat white and yellow gold.

It is understandable that the exquisite items from her Four Seasons collection helped to solidify Chao's standing as a highly skilled jewelry artist, as the collection features masterfully detailed nature-inspired jewelry pieces.

As the name suggests, the Four Seasons collection is built around spring, summer, fall, and winter. In one instance, the arrangement of the diamonds in a ring representing winter is like a cascading droop of heavy icicles. In another item, the semblance of outreached branches is studded with an icy patch of diamonds.

The Majestic Beauty Fan, an exclusive design for DeBeers' Forevermark Precious Collection, is an incredible piece featuring a removable, 18-karat yellow, white, and rose gold butterfly brooch.

Creating the mold alone for this piece took a month while 2,339 diamonds were carefully placed in pavé settings throughout the piece's entwined branches.

It took Chao and her artisan team four months to complete the final piece. This magnificent item, along with the whole of Chao's collections, is a masterpiece of the utmost precision required in hand fabricated jewelry.
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Photo 1 (top right): 18-Karat Yellow and White Gold Brooch with Jadelite and Ruby
Photo 2 (bottom left): 18-Karat Gold Majestic Beauty Fan with Diamonds and Removable Butterfly Brooch