The Botanicals: The Camellia
This year, we’re taking a trip down memory lane with our founder, Yilin. We’re celebrating the stories of botanicals that have been an integral part of the Choo Yilin Universe. We have carried these stories with us for years, and we’re delighted to finally be able to share them with you.
Take us down memory lane – it’s 2010, and Choo Yilin has created the Camellia studs.
Yilin: It was in the earliest years of Choo Yilin, and we wanted to pay homage to the Camellia flower because of its Asian roots. One of the funny bits about the collection was that we were incredibly young and inexperienced, and we named it “The Flower Jade Studs”. As names went, this was probably not the best idea. Firstly, the main inspiration for the design, the Camellia, was not featured, and secondly, there was no jade used in the studs.
Tell me a funny anecdote about this collection.
Y: Despite the tragicomic misnomer, this pair of earrings became one of the most beloved and iconic designs in our history, travelling to New York City, London, and Paris for glamorous jewellery and fashion weeks.
A favourite memory would be the women who purchased the design in multiple colours and the creative ways of styling them with detachable drops and jackets. We were in our infancy as a brand, and to have this level of support from our community filled our souls in ways that we didn’t know we needed and gave us the confidence to go on creating.
There’s an incredible amount of detail in this piece, but I don’t think we have ever dove into the level of craftsmanship.
Y: We remember sitting with the artisans for hours, fine-tuning the petals of the Camellia to be lush and textured. The three-dimensionality of the Camellia was important. We were adamant that it needed to be highly visible and large in proportion to the centre stone.
We recall designing the bezel setting to be highly intricate. It was a counter-intuitive thing to do because the trend then, as set by the West, was to have a clean, minimalist bezel. But we wanted the leafy vines to twirl around the bezel, befitting the botanical theme. We didn’t realise it then, but this was the earliest iteration of Choo Yilin’s highly intricate aesthetic that would be our signature in the years to come.
The Camellia is important in an unexpected way, isn’t it?
Y: One of the unintended comments that we got from our clients was how “This is such a pretty flower, just like Chanel’s Camellia!” Given the global dominance of Chanel, it’s no surprise that the Camellia is synonymous with the French luxury house.
Perhaps less widely known is that the Camellia is native to Asia, a symbol of grace and harmony. It was brought over by botanist Georg Joseph Kamel to Europe in the 17th Century, and the flower was named after him.
Unsurprisingly, the Europeans fell in love with the flower, and by the 19th Century, it became the most expensive and fashionable botanical. The Europeans imbued the Camellia with their significance. To them, it symbolised perfection, love and longing.
Perhaps less widely known is that the Camellia is native to Asia, a symbol of grace and harmony. It was brought over by botanist Georg Joseph Kamel to Europe in the 17th Century, and the flower was named after him.
Choo Yilin has a deep love and appreciation of antiques and sometimes uses old pieces of jewellery as inspirations. Was the Camellia collection inspired by the jewellers of the past?
Y: No, but I’d love to highlight the work of two jewellers that we love at Choo Yilin: Rene Boivin and Suzanne Belperron. They are highly respected French luxury houses in the fine jewellery world.
They created their interpretations of the Camellia flower in haute jewellery in the 1930s. It spoke to the deep cultural appeal amongst the French (as also evidenced by Coco Chanel’s love of the flower), and we loved that both houses, despite coming from the same geographic region and era in time, had such distinctive takes on the same flower.
In your own words, how is the Choo Yilin Camellia distinct from the camellias of the other jewellers?
Y: Our interpretation, as South-East Asian jewellers in the 21st Century, could not be more different from the French jewellers of the 1930s. We chose to use coloured semi-precious stones, gems that were only popularised after the 1970s. The pieces were a lot smaller, a reflection of our community’s desire to have these pieces perfect for everyday wear.
This trip down memory lane is dedicated to the thousands of women who have one of Choo Yilin’s botanicals. Without you, there would be no story to tell.
