Reimagining a Peranakan Matriarch’s Treasure Trove of Antique Jewellery
Madam T had the most exquisite jewellery collection.
Unlike many women of her generation, she never waited for someone else to choose for her. She selected each piece herself, with discernment, with delight, and sometimes with a cheeky defiance. She once whispered to us, eyes glinting with mischief, “I like my taste better.”
Every piece marked a milestone: a significant birthday, a wedding anniversary (his money, her taste, as she liked to joke), the birth of her children, their weddings, the arrival of her grandchildren. They were worn through the decades — not kept aside for special occasions, but infused into the everyday — carrying stories and the patina of time.
Over the years, Madam T came to understand that her collection was more than beautiful. It was a living tapestry of cultures: European historical influences, Indian craftsmanship, Malay and Chinese motifs. A testimony to the hybridity and refinement that defined the Peranakan world she was born into.
But Madam T believed that jewellery was never meant to sit in drawers. It was meant to live, to be worn, loved, touched. To bear witness. Her children and grandchildren’s tastes belonged to another era, and she knew it. Rather than let her beloved treasures fade into silence, she made a decision rooted in clarity and grace: to pass them on. Not out of loss. But out of legacy. To her, fine jewellery was always about connection between generations, between the wearer and the story.
She entrusted Choo Yilin to honour that connection, and to help find the next rightful custodians.
This collection — lovingly reimagined with jade and the Choo Yilin eye — pays tribute to Madam T’s impeccable curation. It is a creative dialogue between her deep knowledge of what the Peranakans once created and collected, and how we dream of those traditions continuing into the 21st century.
“These pieces are not just adornments. They are conversations across time, across cultures, across women who dared to choose for themselves.”
We offer just five one-of-one Estate pieces for purchase, exclusively on chooyilin.com during the The Influencers Before Us digital trunk show from 5th to 7th December 2025.
(i) Estate Library Vol. XVI: Phoenix Tail Earrings (18KT)
Madam T chose these for herself. That much, we’re sure of.
She wore them first at an acquaintance’s wedding, because she believed that jewellery shouldn’t wait for “special occasions” to feel special. She called them her Phoenix Tails because the style was de rigour of the day, and the name stuck.
The flowing filigree, delicate yet deliberate, recalls the silhouette of the mythical phoenix — an ancient symbol of feminine power and rebirth in Chinese tradition. But there’s more. The openwork construction and organic curves speak to Indian craftsmanship, while the lightness of form evokes the refined airiness of European Belle Époque design.
This was a piece born in the golden ateliers of Southeast Asia, where Chinese and Indian goldsmiths worked side by side, where cultures didn't just coexist but co-created. They are earrings made not to be stored, but to be remembered. To move with you. To become part of your own mythology.
(ii) Estate Library Vol. XVII: Floral Bouquet Diamond & Jade Earrings (18KT)
There’s a photo of Madam T from the late ’60s, wearing these earrings and laughing with her head thrown back. She’s at a party somewhere. Her silk cheongsam pressed, her lipstick impeccable. Her joy almost outshines the diamonds. Almost.
These earrings are a love letter to mid-century glamour. The floral motif and articulated drops echo the work of French maisons, the kind of joyful femininity you’d find at Van Cleef or Boucheron in the 1950s. But there’s a softness, a warmth, that feels uniquely Southeast Asian.
The floral language likely held meaning for Madam T — wealth, hope, resilience — wrapped in a form that danced between continents. They were made for movement, not museum cases. They were made for women like her, those who chose joy, always.
(iii) Estate Library Vol. XVIII: Botanical Pearl and Jade Bracelet (20KT)
This was one of Madam T’s more intimate pieces. She wore it often to casual dinners, on school runs, to the market, even. Not because she was careless, but because she believed beauty should live in the everyday.
Crafted in the 1950s, this bracelet is a quiet marvel of multicultural artistry. The 20KT gold — a favourite among wealthy Straits-Chinese families — forms hand-fabricated vines and blossoms, symbols of femininity and fertility. Natural pearls and Type A jade aren’t just adornments here; they carry centuries of meaning: grace, protection, ancestral connection.
And yet, the overall composition is unmistakably European in its romance. Floral clusters, balanced symmetry, and soft naturalism inspired by Victorian and Belle Époque design. This bracelet holds a world within it, not just of materials or technique, but of sentiment. It reminds us that heirlooms aren’t always loud. Sometimes they whisper.
(iv) Estate Library Vol. XIX: Full Bloom Floral Diamond & Jade Bracelet (18KT)
Madam T commissioned this bracelet for her 30th anniversary. She said it was “from him, but really, for me.”
A jewel shaped by convergence, it draws on French and Italian jewellery ideals of the 1950s–60s: floral clusters, pavé-set diamonds, refined grace. But in the hands of Indian or Chinese goldsmiths serving Peranakan families, the form softened, transformed into something quieter, more intentional.
The jade in this bracelet is perfectly placed — not dominant, not shy — in harmony with the diamonds and delicate goldwork. It reflects Madam T’s taste to the letter: elegant, layered, never ostentatious.
This piece was designed to mark a milestone. To be worn on wrists that had held children, carried groceries, and signed love letters. And now, it’s ready to witness new chapters.
(v) Estate Library Vol. VIII: The Peranakan Quatrefoil Bracelet (14KT & 18KT)
There used to be two.
Commissioned in colonial Malaya by a Peranakan family for their daughter’s wedding day, this bracelet was one of a mirrored pair, worn on both wrists for symmetry, beauty, and tradition. Over the decades, the pair was separated, as heirlooms often are. We were able to acquire just one.
The floral quatrefoil motif is drawn from Peranakan tiles and Majolica ceramics — geometry softened by meaning. Each lavender jade cabochon was custom cut, the hue subtle, even moody, as if coloured by memory itself.
Unlike other pieces in Madam T’s collection, this one was inherited. Passed down, not chosen, but she wore it often, perhaps because it reminded her that legacies come in many forms. And even when only one remains, it is still complete.
The five one-of-one Estate pieces are available for purchase, exclusively on chooyilin.com during the The Influencers Before Us digital trunk show from 5th to 7th December 2025.