Celebrity Life

The Carlyle hotel-inspired bolthole -- slated to open on the uppermost floors of Rosewood Hong Kong later this year -- will offer a blueprint for the eponymous group's vision of "a new kind of international members' club". We venture north of the harbour to discover just what that entails...

Hitherto, the Hong Kong ecosystem of private members' clubs has been split broadly between two camps: at one end, you have venerable institutions catered to the needs of the city's professionals (the FCC) and those who surround them (the KCC); at the other, a burgeoning array of social haunts meant to profit from the growing number of Silicon Valley types -- hawkers of crypto, CBD cafes, and other speculative investment opportunities -- who reside here.

Call me Debbie Downer, but neither feels like an especially glam place to visit. After all, such clubs justify their patronage by way of mostly pragmatic considerations: a convenient location; access to business networking opportunities; affordable gym membership; and so forth. This, as Rosewood Hotels CEO Sonia Cheng well knows is where Carlyle & Co. can break the mould -- by conjuring a little glamour into Hong Kong's mostly comatose members' club scene.

Best thought of as a kind of pied-à-terre to the Rosewood Hong Kong (spanning the 54th-56th floor of the hotel) Carlyle & Co. is, in effect, Cheng's answer to the boutique members' clubs that have dominated pop culture these last 20 years. In Hong Kong -- where bureaucratic red tape is frequent; and decent-sized real estate scant -- her hotel group's latest venture feels especially impressive -- if for no other reason than the sheer audacity of it all.

In recent weeks, the first details of the club's leviathan 25,000 sq. ft. premises have begun to emerge, inspired in broad strokes by the "intriguing, inimitable and ultimately indefinable" style of The Carlyle in New York (incidentally also a brand owned by Rosewood Hotels). To orchestrate this vision of Hong Kong-via-Manhattan, Rosewood turned to British designer Ilse Crawford, whose approach has imbued the club's many rooms with a light, playful sensibility -- affording each a healthy dose of individual personality.

For fusty decadents like yours truly, the gentlemen's spaces -- including a barber, shoeshine, and capsule store by an award-winning haberdasher -- hold immense charm -- even though they espouse just one of many eclectic visual styles members will enjoy each time they navigate the club. The aforementioned differ significantly from spaces like the Cabaret Bar and Sitting Room, both of which employ the medium of painting (by artists Jean-Philippe Delhomme and Christina Zimpel respectively) to celebrate The Carlyle hotel's legendary Bemelmans murals.

Supper & Supping

In the spirit of its progenitor, the various dining venues at Carlyle & Co. seem to be accompanied by an august sense of occasion. The crux of the action happens at the brasserie, which (like any decent club restaurant in Hong Kong) serves a medley of Western, Chinese, and all-day delicacies. Here, the focus is on simply cooking the freshest produce the club can source -- various of the small plates are smoked, cured, or otherwise preserved in-house -- yet it's hardly the most theatrical outlet. That honour belongs to Café Carlyle, an intimate supper club intended as the local chapter of the eponymous tippling destination in New York. Members can expect this to be the repository of the club's live musical programming, which (consistent with the historic acts that have taken to the stage at the Carlyle hotel) will include an assortment of uniquely American artforms like jazz, funk, and blues.

Members craving a dose of sunshine can also take a selection of food and drink on the club's 55th-floor terrace, which (much like the Rosewood property at large) enjoys the sort of view that's conducive to sonnet writing or spontaneous tears of joy. Flanking one end of that terrace, you'll find the local chapter of Bemelmans Bar. Like its namesake, the menu here is split roughly equally between fine wines, punchbowls and classic cocktails; though, at the weekend, you can expect a certain frenetic atmosphere to take hold, as the space merges with the terrace for live DJ performances against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour.

Cosy quarters, brimming with personality

Though Carlyle & Co. members can easily book themselves into one of the 400-plus rooms at the surrounding Rosewood property, the entire 54th floor of the club is given over to eight themed suites -- all of which celebrate the history of The Carlyle hotel. More or less equal in size, each offers an inviting and distinctive interior personality. If you're retiring following an evening spent drinking (one too many) Martinis for instance, the 'Tommy' seems an apt choice -- named for and inspired by the legendary Bemelmans bartender Mr. Tommy Rowles. Other known personalities include Dorothy Draper, the original 'modern Baroque' decorator of The Carlyle's interiors; and Eartha Kitt, the renowned actress and Broadway musician. For dedicated students of café society, a stay in every single suite would seem like money well-spent.

A variety of membership packages are available at Carlyle & Co., with or without health club membership. To learn more about rates (or inquire about eligibility) visit Carlyle & Co. online.

The post Celebrate Mother’s Day with Dejade Jewellery appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

ILIA founder Stanley Chu is determined to change people’s mind about jadeite through contemporary designs and education

While my classmates played with toy cars and Lego, I played with jadeite,” says Stanley Chu, co-founder of jadeite jewellery brand ILIA. He shares his fond memories as we sit at his Landmark boutique in Central, which opened earlier in the year. Starting ILIA was, in a way, a long time coming; Chu’s family has been in the jade business for more than 60 years, but largely in the oft-unseen and low-key business of wholesale.

Chu’s childhood home had a jade workshop attached to it, where his parents worked and their craftsmen cut and polished jadeite before turning it into jewellery. “I was exposed to jadeite at a very young age,” he says. “My sister and I knew how to appreciate jadeite even as children and we’d play games, like guessing how much the jadeite was worth.”

At that time, and indeed until now, his family business supplied the industry with some of the rarest and most precious jadeites. Eventually, through ILIA, it’s been able to use these precious stones in its own creations under its own brand name.

Chu partnered with a family friend who also happened to be one of the biggest jadeite collectors in the world. With their strong ties and network among Myanmar’s jadeite miners, coupled with their lifelong experience dealing with the gemstones and making top-quality jewellery, they’ve earned an unrivalled reputation in the industry. But it was their shared deep passion for the gem that sealed the deal.

“Appreciating the beauty of jadeite isn’t something people can learn easily; it’s something, I believe, that’s instilled or passed on from a parent to a child, or from an experienced craftsman to his apprentice,” Chu says. “I love jadeite; it’s in my blood. And my partner, my good friend, shares this sentiment – and through this brand we can share this passion to the world and educate people about this stone.”

Their design mantra? That no two jewellery pieces they make are alike, because indeed, no two jadeite pieces are alike. They also strive to change the misguided perceptions that people might have about jadeite, for instance that it’s for more mature wearers, and isn’t nearly as valuable as rubies, emeralds or sapphires. That attitude is completely unjustified, says Chu, as top-quality jadeite is in fact just as rare as exceptional pink and blue diamonds.

“Unfortunately, despite its rarity, top-quality jadeite is still grossly undervalued,” Chu explains. “Case in point, while the auction price of a top-quality white diamond is around US$150,000 per carat, or US$2.5 million per carat for a pink diamond, or US$300,000 per carat for emeralds, the highest record price per carat for an Imperial Green jadeite is only at US$120,000. But the reality is that Imperial Green jadeite, which is like the Pigeon’s Blood of rubies, is just as rare as top-grade fancy-colour diamonds.”

Thus, a major goal of ILIA is to change people’s perceptions of jadeite – and, according to Chu, the way to do that is to modernise its image while educating people of its intrinsic value. “The younger generation is hungry for information,” he says. “They ask questions, such as what’s the investment value of jadeite, so they must have access to this information.

However, traditional jadeite designs are keeping them away from purchasing this beautiful gemstone and so the most direct way to change their impression is to include innovative and contemporary designs in our collection, working with young jewellery and fashion designers, locally and overseas. We understand that looking cool is just as important as looking elegant for the millennials.”

In fact, it seems as if the gemstone that’s been an underdog for far too long is well on its way to becoming appreciated by a much wider and younger clientele, and acknowledged for the precious gem it truly is.

The post How ILIA is paving the way for Jadeite Jewellery to Shine appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

By now, your bosses and colleagues have probably seen more of your abode than you would've ever expected to show them.

With many of us working from home these days, meetings held over video conferencing apps the likes of Zoom and Microsoft Teams have become the new normal. Inevitably, this means letting colleagues into our residences — albeit virtually — and having them catch glimpses of it via our backdrop. Depending on where your workspace is located, this view could range from a boring blank wall to windows or cluttered bookshelves.

Your makeshift office may not be the most glamorous, but there are several easy interior design tricks that you can employ to quickly jazz up the background of your Zoom calls.

Textiles and cushions

If your workstation of choice is the couch or bed, all it takes is a few snazzy throw pillows wrapped in eye-catching fabrics and prints to provide visual interest in the space behind you. Consider dressing your cushions in the Armani/Casa Exclusive Textiles by Rubelli collection, which is inspired by modern art — specifically works by Henri Matisse, Vasilij Kandinskij and Paul Klee.

It showcases striking colour blocks embellished with embroideries, ikat details and intertwined motifs. These are available in various patterns and shades ranging from pastel to neutral hues. More details here.

Houseplants and greenery

Adding houseplants to your home office will help the space look less spartan and bland. Smaller plants like cacti, succulents and spider plants can be displayed on shelves or tables, while larger ones such as philodendrons, snake plants and ZZ plant (Zanzibar Gem) can be placed on the floor to break the monotony of blank walls.

Online plant retailer Flora Houses offers a wide variety of houseplants that will thrive indoors and are generally low-maintenance. Its range includes Japanese fir, fiddle leaf fig and Bird of Paradise. The store provides free doorstep delivery with a minimum spend.

Artworks and paintings

Perhaps houseplants may seem like too much of a commitment, or you simply don't have green fingers. This is where paintings and art pieces make an easier alternative. You can simply hang a couple of them on the wall that constantly forms your video call backdrop.

An Andy Warhol or Basquiat will certainly impress your co-workers, but your art doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or by big name artists. Consider procuring artworks instead from indie galleries such as Odd One Out, which boasts an array of creations by local and international printmakers and illustrators. We can't take our eyes off the above acrylic painting by Micke Lindebergh, which is titled 'Small Yellow Flower Pot' and features colourful blooms accented by quirky squiggles and bright hues.

Statement ornaments and furniture

Inject a dose of quirk into your meeting setup by peppering your background with assorted decorative items and statement furniture pieces. These can be anything from figurines to colourful tiles and dramatic room dividers.

Our go-to is Lala Curio, which is a whimsical wonderland of objets d'art such as brass monkey sculptures, cloisonné birds, and, one of our favourites — an adorable trio of cranes adorned with rock crystal feathers and perched on crystal balls.

Wallpaper

Why settle for one specially curated work area, when you can turn your whole room into an Instagram-worthy space? Wallpaper is a bold and easy solution — if every wall in your room is clad in beautiful prints, you can essentially park yourself in any corner and still have an envy-inducing Zoom backdrop.

Designer wallpaper has seen a resurgence in recent years, and we're obsessed with Christian Lacroix's exquisite Oiseau Fleur vinyl wallpaper, which depicts vibrant botanical and bird motifs against a silk effect embossed base. It comes in two colourways of pink and grey.

(Main image: Brina Blum/ Unsplash; Featured image: Christian Lacroix)

The post Wenhao Yu of Sotheby’s on How to Grade Jade appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Jade doesn't have to be old-fashioned. These artisans are turning the gemstone into beautiful, contemporary jewellery.

The post Where to buy jade jewellery appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Jade doesn't have to be old-fashioned. These artisans are turning the gemstone into beautiful, contemporary jewellery.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

As the old Chinese proverb goes, “Gold has value, but jade is priceless”. Here’s why.

The post Jade: All you need to know about this precious mineral appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

As the old Chinese proverb goes, “Gold has value, but jade is priceless”. Here’s why.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.