The Teacher and the Student

Who is your teacher?

I use this shifu. (He produces a tiny ball of jade, like a marble). Here is my teacher; it is the best possible quality jade, transparent like glass. This is the jade standard I use when I buy. It's like a benchmark.

What is the younger generation's reaction to jade today in China?

Very complicated. In China, the younger generations find jade a very precious but mysterious material. In Chinese culture, it symbolizes life and death. A lot of people place a jade cicada in the mouth when someone passes away. The word "jade" is very interesting in Chinese, too. It symbolizes the sky, the earth and the people in-between. When you connect them with one another, it becomes jade, so that's the wisdom of it. It's called the "gentlemen's stone" in Chinese. Over the past couple of decades, a lot more people have owned jade, so the price has risen - and some younger people like jade for that reason.

What is so compelling to you about the world of jewelry?

Gemstones are like memories; they carry the memories of the universe and can help us tell its stories. History is our audience - and the stones are the carriers. We want to have the people as our audience and live through them with gemstones.