Celebrity Life

Mother Nature has borne us two of the world's greatest treasures, one abundant yet fleeting, the other rare yet enduring — both eternally beautiful. Here, timeless high jewellery is showcased against ephemeral blooms in a study of our planet's most precious formations.

(Hero Image: ROUND DIAMOND NECKLACE (TOTALLING 89.18 CARATS) AND MULTISHAPE DIAMOND EARRINGS (TOTALLING 26.25 CARATS), BOTH SET IN WHITE GOLD GRAFF)

HIGH JEWELLERY PHOTOSHOOT

Photography Kauzrambler
Creative Direction Stephanie Ip
Styling Karen Siu
Photography Assistant Chu Mei Kwan
Flowers Flannel Flowers

The post 2021 High Jewellery: Earth’s Greatest Treasures appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

There’s no doubt Alex Lam inherited his musical talent from his parents, his father being Cantopop legend George Lam Chi-Cheung, and his mother, Sally Yeh. Still, the singer-songwriter and actor hasn’t let privilege get to his head — he’s not afraid to explore other paths, from a stint in Los Angeles to discover yoga and becoming a yoga teacher, to dipping his toes in fashion.

Lam met Hiro Yoshikawa, founder and designer of Washi Jeans, a Japanese denim brand, a couple years back and was intrigued by the designer’s backstory. Now based in Hong Kong, Yoshikawa is the 18^th generation of a revered sake maker in Okayama, Japan, and the first to leave the family business to pursue his own passion in denim-making. By chance, Yoshikawa had found an old document that charted out his family’s history, written on washi paper. Inspired by this, he developed and patented the Washi No. 6 paper yarn, which he utilizes in his first solo collection launching this month.

Lam, who has always had an eye for detail, quickly became an ambassador and muse for Yoshikawa, and took it upon himself to bring the recognition Yoshikawa deserves by helping him stage his upcoming solo debut.

We sit down with Alex Lam and Hiro Yoshikawa at Washi Jean's studio to talk about style and the upcoming debut of Yoshikawa's solo collection Life on Earth.

Can you describe your style? What are your wardrobe essentials?

AL: My style has always been inspired by musicians. I grew up watching some of my favourite bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and today, I'm inspired by singers like Drake. For me, my summer essentials include a sleeveless vest, a good multi-functional blazer and a pair of high-quality designer jeans.

Have you always been passionate about fashion and did you want to work in fashion?

AL: I have always cared about how I look and my outfits since I was a kid. I remember there was one time when the collar of my t-shirt wasn't right and I wouldn’t wear it out until my parents fixed it for me. Having friends who are in the fashion industry allows me to execute and experiment my ideas during workshops, like the ‘marshmallow’ colourway of the t-shirt I’m wearing right now. 

How did the both of you meet?

AL: I met Hiro-san thought some of our mutual friends.

HY: have been making jeans for other brands for the past 30 years and it has always been my dream to have my own denim brand. I have always hung out with people from the fashion industry, and meeting Alex from the music and acting world has made my life more fun and exciting.

Can you tell us a bit about your project with Hiro-san?

AL: I was hanging out with a group of producers and we often talk about fashion shows, designer brands’ videos, installation art and music. Once we found out Hiro-san wanted to launch his own denim brand this year, we decided to catch this opportunity and put our ideas together. We are organising a VIP launch event with a fashion show on June 11, 2021.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome with this project?

AL: I think the rules of the game changed after Covid started last year. We looked at online fashion shows last year, without the tradition styles, and we knew our team needed to do it in a cleverer way. The restriction for event gathering is 30 persons at the moment, so we were not able to invite too many friends and make the event as big as before. Plus the campaign and fashion show video shoot all in one day, that’s the biggest challenge in this project.

HY:  We have been staying in our studio almost every day is the past few months, meeting different parties like our PR team, models, videographers and producers.

What else are you up to this year that you can share with us?

AL: I have released a new song and I just finished a music video for another song. I have also been working on my YouTube channel and created a few series, but it’s been slightly slowed down because I was focusing in this project.

Has the pandemic affected the way you work or changed your priorities?

AL: Before Covid, I was busy working with clients, who often prepared everything. With changes and restrictions during this period, I am able to organise and create more content by myself.

What are you currently inspired by?

AL: There are many indie musicians and young kids out there who are doing their music in their unique styles. I admire them a lot as they can release songs as long as they think it sounds good. I used think good music requires the best studio and recording equipment, but turned out a lot of indie musicians are producing high quality songs just by working at home.

You have a YouTube channel, you're into fashion, music as well as classic cars. How did you get into each of those passions and how do you balance it all?

AL: Project by project. I’m now focusing more on quantity over quality and I'll keep learning from the progress and mistakes.

Do you have a motto you live by?

Stay healthy. As I was a yoga teacher, I still practice yoga for two to three hours each day. It’s a good way to reflect on myself and find peace.

The post Jewellery Trends: Bold, Geometric Designs appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

For more than a decade, the Kimberley Process is the de facto certification in eradicating blood diamond. As technology advances, more could be done to further complement the KP and strengthen the process.

The post The Kimberley Process and Its Effectiveness in Eradicating Blood Diamonds appeared first on LUXUO.

Harry Winston once said, “No two diamonds are alike.”

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It’s Lunar New Year again, and with it comes the customary drop of special-edition luxury timepieces aimed at East Asian collectors. This time around they’re dedicated to the second zodiacal sign – that of the hard-working, dependable, determined, and somewhat conservative bovine, the Ox. So that horologically inspired oxen won’t find sifting through the seasonable offerings a burdensome task, we’ve done the work for them and come up with this propitious selection of ox-inspired watches.

Vacheron Constantin

The Swiss maison has created a pair of limited-edition Métier d’Art ox-inspired watches. One is in platinum with a blue dial, but it’s this magnificent specimen in pink gold with a brown dial that best captures the essence of the plodding beast of burden. Not only have the house’s engravers and enamellers replicated the traditional Chinese paper-cutting technique of jianzhi on the grand feu dial, but they also incorporated etched representations of grass and foliage, as well as the engraved image of the animal itself, which is rendered in pink gold. Powered by the Calibre 2460 G4, the watch displays the time via four apertures that show hours, minutes, days and dates, the first two dragged and the last jumping. Only 12 pieces of each model are available.

Blancpain

From the manufacture’s Villeret collection, Blancpain’s Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel comes in an edition of 50 pieces and eschews a large representation of the animal in favour of a tiny silhouette at 12 o’clock. As the name suggests, however, this highly complicated timepiece does feature a full traditional Chinese calendar, with double hour indication, signs of the zodiac, Chinese date and month, indication of the five elements, celestial stems, leap months, Gregorian calendar and moonphases. In a 45mm platinum case with grand feu dial, it’s powered by the Calibre 3638, whose oscillating weight is set with a Madagascan ruby and which provides up to 168 hours of power.

Breguet

From Breguet’s Lunar New Year offerings, we’ve chosen this ladies’ Reine de Naples 8955 Cammea Year of the Metal Ox, a limited edition of eight pieces that’s presented in a rose-gold case set with 2.8 carats of diamonds. Pride of place goes to the relief-carved cameo dial in white and brown, each made from a specially selected shell, whose engraving — by an Italian father-and-son team — takes some 20 days to complete. The watch is powered by a 537 automatic calibre with platinum rotor and hand guillochage; visible through a caseback sapphire, it provides a reserve of 45 hours. A signature and serial number are engraved in gold at the case base; the owner can also have her name similarly inscribed.

Chopard

One of two ox-inspired watches from Chopard, the L.U.C XP Urushi Spirit of ShÍ Chen comes in a limited edition of 88 pieces. It’s the first L.U.C watch to display the complete Chinese zodiac, which it does with a new complication that reveals the animals in a slow parade on a rotating Urushi-lacquer disc. The lacquer dial, which is produced by the century-old Japanese company Yamada Heiando, also incorporates the symbol of prosperity and the god Lu Xing. In a 40mm ethical rose-gold case, the watch is powered by the automatic L.U.C 96.29-L calibre, a variant of the manufacture’s existing 96 movement that incorporates the zodiac complication and measures just 3.97mm thick.

Harry Winston

The Lunar New Year offering from Harry Winston comes in the form of this ladies’ Premier Chinese New Year Ox Automatic 36mm, which displays the image of a jewelled bovine on a dial of bright red beaded mother-of-pearl and white mother-of-pearl, with waved decor, 105 brilliant-cut diamonds and a single emerald-cut diamond of 0.06 carats. In a jewel-set rose-gold case, the watch features a total of 174 brilliant-cut diamonds that weigh 2.74 carats. It displays hours and minutes in an offset dial at 12 o’clock, draws power from the HW2014 automatic calibre and is available in a limited edition of eight pieces.

Piaget

The annual Lunar New Year watch release from Piaget comes in the guise of this ultra-thin Altiplano Year of the Ox in a 38mm white-gold case, with 0.71 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds on the bezel and a grand feu cloisonné enamel dial by master enameller Anita Porchet. Using a technique dating back four millennia, Porchet created miniature gold partitions (cloisons) on the dial, into which she placed the enamel pigments; the dial was then fired and varnished. The watch is powered by the hand-wound 430P calibre, which measures just 2.1mm thick; it’s presented on a black leather strap.

Jaquet Droz

To mark the Lunar New Year of the Ox, Jaquet Droz has produced three ox-inspired watches in its Ateliers d'Art collection, each showcasing two artisanal techniques. Shown here is the Petite Heure Minute Relief Buffalo in a 41mm red-gold case, which is available in a limited-edition of just eight pieces. The dial depicts hand-engraved and hand-painted buffalo and tree relief appliqués in red gold, with 27 rubies adorning the latter. With hours and minutes displayed in a large off-centred dial at 12 o'clock, the timepiece is powered by a 2653 automatic movement with red-gold oscillating weight and a hand-painted buffalo appliqué in 22k red gold, which provides a reserve of 68 hours.

The post Herd Instinct: Ox-Inspired Watches for Chinese New Year appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The Diamond Registry was founded in 1961 to protect consumers from overpriced diamonds and jewelry.

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In what’s become a highly anticipated annual tradition at Harry Winston, in which it unveils a unique and extraordinary timepiece that’s almost always ridiculously extravagant, magnificently crafted and, quite simply, a sight to behold, the New York house presents the Ultimate Quadri Tourbillon.

For this piece, its designers envision the grand, neoclassical arched entrance of the brand’s Fifth Avenue home and creates a structure from which hangs a white gold pocket watch adapted from Harry Winston’s Histoire de Tourbillon 10, featuring four independent tourbillons.

The watch provides quite the mesmerising show in which the tourbillons rotate counter-clockwise over 36 seconds, while the hours and minutes advance in a traditional fashion. The aesthetics of the watch have been enhanced, with the tourbillons now fitted with blue titanium bridges, and the movement has an openwork structure that reveals its complex architecture.

Providing texture and depth, the bridges and plates are treated with a microbead-blasted finishing that contrasts with others that are satin brushed. Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are also presented in a lighter shade of blue and placed in raised platforms, while the famous Harry Winston emerald-cut diamond is given pride of place at 12 o’clock.

The Ultimate Quadri Tourbillon hangs from a free-standing structure made in white gold that echoes the entryway to the house’s Fifth Avenue salon and features a marquetry of blue aventurine and 18 baguette-cut diamonds in the keystone.

The post This Harry Winston Objet d’Art is a Triumph of Design and Technique appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.