Jing

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

Drawing on her vast experience acquired on both sides of the hemisphere, Jing brings a wealth of knowledge to her role as Head of International Jewellery Sales. While she demonstrates a clear passion for the more modern forms of jewellery design, she combines this with her appreciation for those gems and symbols inspired and influenced by traditional cultures and tastes.

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After the long journey from a career in Beijing to Pragnell in the UK, I became both a qualified gemmologist and jewellery design specialist. I currently work as Head of International Jewellery Sales with a focus on the Asian market. My 10 years’ experience gained in the field have enabled me to provide professional advice and support on gemstones and jewellery. In recent years, I have participated in the Beijing international Jewellery Fair, Poly Autumn Auctions, Schmuck, WCEC and the opening of Peony Pavilion in UK.

Qualifications:
GIA Graduate Gemmologist (Gemmological Institute of America)
Master of Arts, Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
NGTC Graduate Gemmologist (National Gemstone Testing Centre of China), Beijing
Bachelor of Engineering, Gemmology and Materials Technology, Tianjin University of Commerce, China

Q & A

What is your earliest jewellery memory?
I witness happiness and love through jewellery, the emotional investment, the real intellectual curiosity behind the designs.

What is your favourite gemstone?
Jade: in China, it is highly valued as a symbol of many virtues, such as kindness, righteousness, wisdom, bravery and purity.

What advice would you give someone looking for a bespoke piece?
Keep your thoughts in mind and research online. Also look for your own style and find out what is important for your memories.

Describe your jewellery style in three words?
Intellectual, elegant, creative.

My favourite period of jewellery design

Retro jewellery designers responded to the breaking down of boundaries in the 1960s and 1970s with gleeful excess. From the early counterculture, through hippy and into punk, people celebrated new-found self-expression through the jewels they chose to wear. Jewellers captured the 60s mood of iconoclasm with explosive, splintered shapes and jagged, spiky contours. Colours clashed with abandon. Diamonds, grand luxe diamonds, which showed off incredible visual properties, were worn to be seen. With the colourful and meaningful art movements, social revolution, economic boom, the 1960s and 1970s were an incredibly creative period, filled with sharp opinions and flashy colours. Widening the scope of the possibilities, they most definitely shaped the world in which we live right now.

My Favourite Piece

It was an original one-of-a-kind Pragnell Masterpiece, featuring a radical design, using reverse set diamonds that inspired the RockChic Collection. Drawing on the modern way to style jewellery, the collection is designed to be stacked and combined with other Pragnell pieces and the wearer’s own jewellery, to create a unique look. The RockChic set earrings feature 6.77 carats of inverted set princess cut diamonds in platinum. While most diamonds are set with their flat table facets facing up, the Pragnell workshop have created a pair of earrings that turns conventional setting upon its head. Each princess cut diamond has been set with its pointed culet facing up, resulting in a unique and stylish design twist and a dramatic style statement.

A Bespoke Commission

Mimicking natural forms, the butterfly has long represented the soul in many cultures and is often a symbol of hope. China boasts a long history of jade culture, dating back over 7,000 years. In the Yin Period of the late Shang Dynasty, jade was praised as the ‘stone from the heaven’, the ‘essence of the earth’, the ’king of all substances’ and the ‘stone of the god’. Jade’s unique origin has made it the embodiment of noble characters, as proven by the saying: “A real man would rather be a jade broken than a tile intact.” According to Confucius, jade represents virtues of kindness, righteousness, wisdom, bravery and purity. It is also deemed as the symbol of vitality, endearing personality, eternal beauty, and immense family wealth. Therefore, jade is the perfect gift to express good wishes for happiness, joy, promotion and security.