Otherworldly in beauty and strength, Simone Jewels’ new collection of storied gems are inspired by the peak of an ancient, regal art
Simone Jewels has launched its annual, themed collection this year – Portraits of Porcelain – distilling the legacy of porcelain and the techniques of its unsung masters into profoundly wearable tributes to this ancient, regal art.
Portraits of Porcelain is Simone’s first fully Chinese-inspired theme, drawing from the brand’s ethos of “Yesterday’s Tale, Today’s Creation, Tomorrow’s Inspiration”. Porcelain was chosen as a centuries-old craft with closely guarded techniques and valued for its beauty and strength, conferring it a highly coveted status by rulers and empires throughout history.
The first porcelains were plain in colour until the trade in cobalt from Persia, at that time twice as valuable as gold, introduced traditional blue and white porcelain. Over the centuries, the technique of porcelain became more sophisticated until the Qing dynasty brought the porcelain artistry to its greatest heights.
Porcelain reached its pinnacle in the Qing dynasty with vivid portraits of floral, landscape, and figurative scenes in multi-coloured palettes inspired by contact with European art, making it highly sought-after worldwide. The development of painted enamel was also one of the most significant technical contributions made during this period.
The collection features Simone’s signature one-in-the-world creations over three lines – Paradise in Harmony, Heavenly Purity and Twelve Blossoms, each inspired by three Chinese porcelains from the Qing dynasty celebrated for their historical and aesthetic significance and which have commanded astronomical prices in recent auctions.
Portraits in Porcelain embodies the intricate motifs, historical techniques and varied colours from these examples into truly modern wearable artworks and interpretations of prized porcelain, with select pieces featuring Simone Jewel’s signature transformable designs.
Simone Ng, founder and executive creative director of Simone Jewels: “Chinese porcelain’s fascinating history has given us so much insight into the richness of culture and art during ancient times. The legacy of Chinese development of the art is such that even today, porcelain is still referred simply as ‘china’.”
Simone adds, “Well-made porcelain may appear translucent and eggshell-thin against a light, but it has a surprising strength that outlives centuries like the three masterpieces that inspired our collection. This is close to the heart of our collection, which are treasured, storied gems meant to last a lifetime.”
Paradise in Harmony 
Paradise in Harmony infuses the whimsical yet auspicious motifs of the spring flora, deer and crane in a colourful palette iconic for yangcai porcelain. An exceptionally rare Qing dynasty porcelain vase was discovered in an old shoebox in a dusty attic. When appraised, the owners were dumbfounded to learn that it was a yangcai vase from the reign of Emperor Qianlong and the only known example of its kind. The vase is notable for its vivid depiction of cranes and deer, frolicking in a paradisical garden. Cranes and deer are a traditional, auspicious motif – ‘deer’ in Chinese sounds like ‘six’, which represents the heavens, the earth, and the four cardinal directions, whereas ‘crane’ sounds like ‘union’, which together with the flowers and trees symbolise the harmonious rebirth of our natural world in spring. The vase sold for €16.2 million in 2018, setting records for a piece sold at Sotheby’s Paris and for a Chinese porcelain sale in France. Simone Jewels celebrates this Paradise in Harmony in a collection infusing whimsical motifs and geometries reflecting the vase’s idyllic vista by harmoniously combining spring flora and the deer and crane designs, executed through a colourful gemstone palette reminiscent of yangcai porcelain with lagoon and blue-green tourmaline with jade. Heavenly Purity
Heavenly Purity’s bold, warrior-like designs draw from the secret strategies of the emperor’s inner court with lattices and square motifs enveloping hidden details. In 1742, a Chinese porcelain vase from the imperial kilns was crafted with such formidable complexity that it was described as a ‘masterwork’ in its earliest written description. Made from just one intricately carved piece of porcelain, this double-walled vase combines multiple historical techniques with Rococo-inspired floral motifs and interlaced dragons forming a reticulated wall. Peek through the celadon latticework and a hidden inner vase reveals peach motifs in traditional cobalt blue. This vase held a place of honour in Qianqing Palace (the Palace of Heavenly Purity) in the Forbidden City where the emperor conferred with his most senior counsellors. In 2020, the vase was auctioned by Sotheby’s Hong Kong for HK$70.4 million – an overdue obeisance to this majestic icon. In its homage to Heavenly Purity, Simone Jewels draws upon the many strategies discussed in the presence of this vase with bold, warrior-like design themes in white gold. As a nod to the secrets of the Inner Court, the collection takes inspiration from the double-walled nature of the vase, using lattices and square motifs formed with diamonds and carved gemstones to envelope hidden details set within glass sculpture-inspired carvings. Entrancing red and pink gemstones dominate this collection with spinels, Burmese rubies, and an extremely rare, 9-carat unheated pink Paraiba tourmaline.Twelve Blossoms
Twelve Blossoms bloom in white gold and blue gold, blue gemstones, delicate intaglio, and plique-à-jour enamelling inspired by hand-painted motifs of seasonal flowers. Flowers hold a prominent position in the development of Chinese art with a complex symbolism immortalised in this exquisite set of royal porcelain cups. Created for Emperor Kangxi, this set of twelve cups from the 18th century feature one flower for every lunar month crafted in the Wucai style. Each month’s floral muse is painted in cobalt blue, once valued at twice that of gold, accompanied by a seasonal couplet of Tang-era poetry. They were used in imperial flower viewings and banquets, described by a poet as “bright moons cunningly carved and dyed with spring water”. This set was owned by a female private collector in Hong Kong who spent 20 years assembling all twelve cups. Her labour of love sold for HK$36.1 million by Christie’s in 2018. Simone Jewels’ Twelve Blossoms pays tribute to this remarkable collection with one-in-the-world pieces inspired by cobalt on porcelain and intricate floral motifs of the seasonal blossoms, personified by white gold and blue gold, intaglio carving, and featuring tanzanites, aquamarines, and neon-blue tourmalines. This is also the first use of plique-à-jour in Simone Jewels’ collections in deference to the development of painted enamel and the gracefulness of fine porcelain.
