Life and Leisure

Sparkle Appeal

By Gan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-06 10:42

It's the season for bright lights, dizzy nights and a collection of jewels to show off at the round of year-end parties. Gan Tian finds the brightest collections.

Diamonds are a girl's best friends. Marilyn Monroe believed that, and so does Cindy Yeung, managing director of Emperor Watch & Jewellery.

But unlike Monroe, Yeung also believes jades and emeralds are as much a girl's best friends as diamonds, especially if it's a Chinese girl.

"They love jades and emeralds. They believe it brings luck and harmony to the wearer," Yeung says.

In the company's Magic Garden series, there is a giant emerald necklace decorated with 15.45 karats of diamonds, part of the collection presented at the 2010 Emperor Jewellery Show in Beijing recently.

Another loose 13-karat diamond piece also stunned the guests, and there was a dazzling display of necklaces, bracelets and earrings inlaid with pearls, rubies and yellow, pink and black diamonds.

This was Emperor Watch & Jewellery's first show on the Chinese mainland. VIP guests included Albert Yeung, chairman of Hong Kong's giant Emperor Group, Jean-Marc Lacave, president of LVMH Watch and Jewellery Asia-Pacific, and Ping Ong, general manager of LVMH Watch and Jewellery China.

Many Chinese consumers recognize Emperor Watch & Jewellery's name because it was one of the first Hong Kong companies to sell luxury products on the mainland. In 1994, it opened a store in Chongqing, the first store where residents could buy a Cartier watch.

Last year, Emperor Jewellery opened its flagship store in Hong Kong's landmark 1881 Heritage, where top-tier luxury houses gather - including Cartier, Rolex, Piaget and Tiffany & Co.

It also opened stores in Beijing and Shanghai. At present, Emperor Jewellery also sells its products in second-and-third-tier cities like Taizhou, Jiangsu province, and Hengyang, Hunan province.

During its first show in Beijing, L Capital Asia, a subsidiary company under LVMH, announced it has signed an agreement with the company to lend significant support to Emperor Watch & Jewellery in its expansion in the jewelry lines. At the same time, the Hong Kong company will also enjoy a stable diamond supply and good prices under the support of LVMH brands.

Emperor currently has 15 retail outlets in Hong Kong, 37 in the mainland and four in Macao.

As Yeung sees it, that's a result of increasing purchasing power of the Chinese.

"Our statistics show there are more consumers showing great interest in high-end jewelry and watches," he says. "They are beginning to appreciate them, and to collect them as investments."

A graduate from the University of San Francisco, Yeung has been in charge of Emperor's jewelry business since an early age. She draws inspiration from her rich experiences.

When she went skiing in Switzerland several years ago, the large snowflakes impressed her. Soon after going back to Hong Kong, Yeung held a meeting with her team of designers and told them to design a pair of earrings in the shape of a delicate snowflake.

But the ability to draw from a Chinese background is what separates the company's products from foreign labels.

After Yeung visited the Great Wall, she wanted to produce a piece of jewelry in the shape of the Great Wall.

"Our designers placed the diamonds by hand one by one, to form a 'Great Wall'. Emperor is a jewelry brand belonging to the Chinese, so we have to draw inspiration from our culture," Yeung says.

"Emperor Watch & Jewellery was founded by my grandfather in 1942. It has a history of more than 60 years. I am in the third generation working in the company, and my pressure comes from how to make the label more recognizable as distinctly Chinese."

Already, there are plans for a series based on Chinese royal families.

The marketplace is still wide open and Yeung intends to milk it. She feels that there are many more potential customers and these include young women who cannot purchase expensive pieces. At Emperor Watch & Jewellery, their needs are catered to with an affordable range featuring elegant designs and simple materials.