A Celebration of Our Stories
When Choo Yilin was first launched in 2009, it was founded on the desire to share stories of love, heritage, and becoming. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary this year, we also announced that the brand would be taking a hiatus to reflect on our craft, our storytelling, and laying the foundation for the next chapter of our journey.
We are incredibly moved to have received such an outpour of love and support from the Choo Yilin community - from customers who have encouraged us through all ten years of our journey, to friends of the brand we are grateful to have made along the way. Here are some of their best memories, a celebration of all our stories:
“The brand speaks about love so often, and it really comes to light when you meet the team. Whether it’s the designers, the personal shoppers or anyone in the CYL Studio itself; the faces behind the brand - there’s such an apparent love in the craft. So, my favourite milestones are made of these moments - getting to really know the brand; its inspirations of heritage, its constant journey of becoming, and the love the team puts into it all. I hope Choo Yilin becomes THE global household name for jade heirlooms; it’s a big dream but if anyone can do it, my bet’s on this team.”
“My journey with Choo Yilin has been deeply personal. Through my 20s, it was Choo Yilin that gave my love for jade and gems a name, and a homegrown brand to be (extremely) proud of. Every piece of my Choo Yilin collection has marked a small milestone in my life; tiny beautiful stories that remind me to be proud of the woman I’ve become. Even now in Choo Yilin’s choice to press pause so that it can grow towards its true narrative and vision, I find cause for celebration and inspiration to reflect on my own journey as a person. Every journey is different, and growth is never easy. No other brand has resonated with me quite the same way. I will continue to wear my Choo Yilin pieces with pride, joy, and with every confidence that we will mark new milestones together. ”
“A favourite Choo Yilin piece was a ring I wore to the premiere of the first movie whose screenplay I had co-written. My choice in jewellery, rich in personal symbolism, is a commemoration of life’s milestones.”
“Our wedding heirloom piece has steadily grown alongside us in its significance, witnessing the many milestones of our life together since. As the brand takes a hiatus to reflect on its next chapter, I am sure it’ll inspire us in ever more ways than it already has, when it returns. Like how songs are made up of both audible notes and inaudible pauses, I can’t wait for the next note to come after this interlude. It’ll be beautiful, I’m sure.”
“My husband spent months learning about gemstones from Yilin before he proposed. When he finally got down on one knee, he did it with only the diamond itself, unadorned. He wanted me to have a ring that wasn’t just about him or me, but about us. And so I worked with Yilin on the design. Inside, we engraved “I’m sorry please thank you very many”, our private joke about marriage and relationships. My husband passed away in December 2018. I still wear my engagement and wedding rings almost every day. It is a part of our family, a part of me, a part of our story.”
“As Choo Yilin goes into hiatus, my wish is for the brand to come back even stronger and to continue in the preservation of the Singaporean identity, while being able to innovate and stay relevant for all modern women. The brand of Choo Yilin brings about many memories - from my wedding to important family milestones, and even my journey as a female entrepreneur. To me, Choo Yilin has set itself apart from other local brands by anchoring itself to our heritage. ”
“For me, the Choo Yilin experience isn’t just about buying something beautiful. It’s not just about owning a gorgeous piece of jewellery. It’s about our stories, and our relationships with each other. It is about how the Choo Yilin team helped me discover a crafted object that tells a story, lets me cherish a loved one I lost, and keeps our memories alive - all in the form of a simple jade ring.”
“I first met Yilin at a fashion trunk show on a Saturday afternoon. It was her warmth, earnestness, and uncanny ability to find commonalities even amongst our seemingly different interests that struck me. And it is her very spirit that encapsulates what the Choo Yilin brand is - a celebration and honour of our similarities, rather than a fixation on our differences. I believe that it is this spirit that will see an even stronger and more resilient brand emerge after the hiatus - I can’t wait. ”
“My favourite Choo Yilin moments are the ones that are unseen by the public – little acts of courage, growth, and integrity.
They are the seemingly mundane memories of us owning up to mistakes when it was far easier not to. They are the everyday, casual actions like brewing bitter herbs for an ill team member who insisted on being in the office because of an urgent deadline. And they are the writing handwritten letters to each other on both the good days and the bad, acknowledging that there was more wisdom in the lows than the highs.
My hope for the next chapter of Choo Yilin is that as we go on to tell the story of jade globally, we continue to honour the ten years’ of grace we’ve been inordinately gifted with; that we could do this by living everyday with the values we have shared everyday: the celebration of heritage, love and becoming. ”