PAINTING WITH GEMSTONES

At the end of November, jewelry designer Feng Ji's "Jardin de Giverny" necklace fetched $2.6 million at Phillips fall auction in Hong Kong, a record price for Chinese jewelry designers.

A rising star in the jewelry business, Feng is known for her signature style of floating gemstones, a gem-setting technique the young designer often uses to make the metal settings of her creations invisible. The necklace that sold at a record price looks like a garland of flowers, with a center stone of a 19-carat pink diamond suspended by other colorful gemstones.

"My memories of living in Paris and my obsession with impressionism became my inspiration," says the 34-year-old, who is based in Shanghai.

The garland-like necklace represents flowers Feng encountered when she visited the private garden of painter Claude Monet in Giverny. The jewels' lights and hues come from Feng's love for Monet's paintings and resonate with her design philosophy of "painting with gemstones".

Graeme Thompson, head of jewelry department with Phillips, says Feng uses a visionary approach to create her artistic pieces, the design concept of which is inspired by her childhood surrounded by art, her travels abroad and her intensive training in jewelry design in Paris.

Feng was born in an artists' family in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Her great-grandfather was a court painter in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Both her parents love collecting art pieces and antiques. Feng learned Chinese painting in primary school. She graduated from the China Academy of Art and obtained her master's degree in jewelry design from the University of the Arts London in 2012.

Since establishing her jewelry brand in Paris and Shanghai in 2016, Feng's business has attracted many collectors, including singer Robyn Rihanna Fenty and entrepreneurs in China.

Feng says more than half of the buyers of her jewelry are Chinese although the luxury items are expensive.

"They pursue fancy stones, fine craftsmanship and unique designs to show their taste," says Feng.

Thompson says that because buyers focus on designs, individual jewelry designers like Feng are getting more attention in the international jewelry market.

According to Phillips, the European buyer of Feng's necklace who offered millions of dollars decided to buy it without seeing the piece in person, but rather just in photos.

Each year, Feng produces around 40 pieces of jewelry. She has to fly between China and France many times a year because Paris houses some of the most skilled craftspeople in the jewelry business.

Feng recalls when she first visited jewelry craftspeople in Paris for collaboration, she was refused because Chinese designers were not yet recognized. But after seeing her designs, they agreed to work with her.

Feng was the only Chinese-speaking apprentice when she learned skills at design studios in Paris.

"There are few Chinese in this field. It's still dominated by Western designers," says Feng, who is regarded as a promising designer of high jewelry by media in the West.

Each of Feng's jewelry pieces needs effort and time. Sometimes, a piece takes her one or two years to finish and she has to fly between Shanghai and Paris many times for just one work.

"It's not only about design. From the selection of gems to cutting, I am involved in the whole process of production," says Feng.

"To produce a good piece is like brewing－it takes time."

Because of the pandemic this year, Feng stayed at home in Shanghai, submerging herself in designing jewelry.

David Xu, executive director of Feng's brand, says the designer's personality is as quiet as her creations. She is like an artist of few words and always immersed in her own world, says Xu.

Also due to the pandemic, Feng couldn't fly to Paris to work with craftspeople this year. It's the Chinese craftspeople who helped her to finish her pieces auctioned at Phillips, which, Feng says, has given her the confidence to open a workshop in Shanghai in the future.