RAPAPORT... Throughout his life, Dickson Yewn has divided his time and interest among a variety of creative pursuits. Now, as creative director and owner of two distinct jewelry shops in Hong Kong and designer of numerous collections, he devotes most of his energy to the world of wearable art, most of which is inspired by his Chinese heritage.
In the early 1990s, Hong Kong cinema was having a downtime and the fledgling film director was forced to channel his energy elsewhere, explains Emily Luk, Yewn’s marketing executive. Yewn had released an album of his photographs and staged a sculpture show. He was already creating “wearable art” for exclusive clients and the idea of actually making jewelry design a business took hold.
Yewn opened an upstairs shop in his native Hong Kong — rents for ground-floor operations are prohibitively high — and named it Life of Circle. His work attracted the attention of a number of local celebrities and, within a short time, his career as a jeweler to the stars was launched. Today, his enterprise includes three Life of Circle outlets selling popular-priced sterling silver jewelry to a youthful clientele and two Yewn shops, filled with high-end diamond and gemstone jewelry. The latter boutiques are located in the basement arcade of the famed Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon; the flagship is in central Hong Kong’s Landmark building, where his new neighbors include De Beers and Tiffany & Co.
Each collection has its own name and theme, most inspired by Chinese art. For example, the most popular designs include Chinese Lattice, with crosshatched details, Chinese Paper Cut, featuring flower motifs with dozens of movable elements, and Manchurian, a collection of designs based on themes from the court dress of the last emperor. Cloud, Yewn’s aptly chosen brand motif, sounds like the word for “luck” in Chinese, and the theme was one used in Yewn’s photographic exhibitions.
Much of Yewn’s work consists of limited-edition pieces and because he begins with a design theme rather than the components, the grade of diamonds used has little importance to him. Most of his jewelry sales are of diamonds set in 18-karat gold, often with a blackened finish that emphasizes the brilliance of the stones. The best-selling price range is $2,000 to $20,000.
SHOPS ARE SMALL IN SIZERents in Hong Kong being what they are, most stores are fairly intimate in size — Yewn estimates his boutiques average 250 to 500 square feet. The key to success is not the size of the store, Yewn notes, but rather the right location. His flagship store, on the third floor of the Landmark building, uses a number of elements to create the combined feeling of an art gallery and a museum. The ceiling is decorated with sheets of gold foil, the custom-made dark brown Chinese silk features a peony design and fiber optic spotlights highlight the jewelry displays. The brand’s logo, the cloud motif, is represented in the marble exteriors, an inlaid mammoth tooth on the furniture and decorative details on the jewelry cases.
Yewn sells jewelry to an international group of tourists, who visit Hong Kong and stay at the hotels, and a growing number of collectors, who represent a Who’s Who of the Chinese film world. His opening in the Landmark was celebrated by several well-known celebrities, including actress and film director Sylvia Chang, who is an aficionado of Yewn’s designs, producer and stylist Tina Liu and such celebrities as Monica Chen and Sherry Fung. The women entertained guests and modeled Yewn’s jewelry, posing in a tongue-in-cheek mah-jongg game. The set, designed and handmade by Yewn, featured game pieces sculpted in sterling silver and set on specially processed solid elm wood.
AIMS AT YOUNGER AUDIENCEThe Life of Circle boutiques, located in upscale shopping areas such as the Harbour City and IFC malls, sell silver jewelry and gifts and are positioned for a younger market. All merchandise is designed by Yewn and all items are priced below $5,000. Most feature loosely inspired Chinese themes such as yin and yang, simplified Chinese characters and nature-inspired designs. A third boutique is scheduled to open in April 2008.
In 2005, Yewn’s Life of Circle stores were honored by Forbes magazine in its Best 25 Stores in the World, a list that included such notable names as shoe designer-to-the-stars Manolo Blahnik.
“My customers include a number of Americans,” Yewn says. “Most of the time, they are women who have everything and want something different.” Other clients include working women in high-level management who select pieces for themselves. Yewn’s designs have attracted the attention of New York–based Fragments, which represents his collection at trade fairs and features his work in its Soho retail shop. Yewn exhibits his collection at the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and other selected fairs, as well as a handful of contemporary art fairs.
The designer says he regularly visits his stores, but relies on his staff for day-to-day operations. However, Yewn does meet with clients by appointment to create commissioned pieces and custom designs. He is currently at work on a special piece for Sotheby’s. Unlike many retailers in such a competitive environment, Yewn does little advertising. He says his exclusive clientele doesn’t like it. Rather, most of his publicity comes from word of mouth and public relations.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - May 2008. To subscribe click here.