Introducing The Estate Collection

The Estate Collection encompasses antique jewellery pieces thoughtfully restored to reflect our stories across time and continents — to honour history, to shape the present, and to hold space for what’s yet to unfold.

In every culture throughout time, jewellery has been used to convey sentiments that words cannot. I have dedicated much of my adult life trying to do just that: create heirlooms, endeavouring to convey heritage, love and becoming where words have failed me.

Through the years of procuring and studying antique jewellery, I have realised that across history, countless before me have done the same — I touch worlds in the hand-cut, less-than-perfectly symmetrical Victorian old mine-cut diamonds. I feel love born and mourned and honoured in all of these pieces. Each of these pieces of jewellery has its unique story to tell, but there’s a universality to them — that across cultures and time, they reflect the whole gamut of life’s moments, from the joyous, the sacrificial and the minutiae of everyday life.

I think of my one great-grandmother whom I have never met, the one who started my father’s love of antiques and his desire to understand the world with that simple gesture of a gift. I feel her gentle nudging, “Go do what I could never dream of. Go do what your father wanted but couldn’t do. Go journey through time and cultures and tell their stories. For their stories are also mine and yours and all of ours.”

This November, through a digital gallery experience, we present to you 10 beautifully restored and reimagined estate pieces that have lived for a long time. They have travelled the world and have their own stories to tell.

Love, Yilin

Featured

The Estate Collection No. 10 - Victorian Ring and Pendant Necklace

Created in England in the 1880s, a token from the era of Queen Victoria’s last years as Monarch.

The Estate Collection No. 9 - Peranakan Festoon Garland Necklace

The festoon garland necklace was a signature style of the Edwardian era, where light, open floral work was favoured amongst the upper crust of European society.

The Estate Collection No. 8 - The Peranakan Bracelet

Created in colonial Malaya in the 1950s, this classic Peranakan bracelet was likely commissioned (originally as a pair) by a wealthy Peranakan family for their daughter on the wedding day.

The Estate Collection No. 7 - Edwardian Clover Brooch and Necklace

In the earlier years of King Edward VII’s reign, jewellers started to use platinum in their work. Prior to that, white metal jewellery was only possible with silver.

The Estate Collection No. 6 - Georgian Earrings

The intricate late Georgian botanical metalwork with its signature rose-cut diamonds was originally a pair of buttons(!) sewn to an important piece of clothing that conveyed status, likely from a wealthy aristocrat or royalty.

The Estate Collection No. 5 - Peranakan Dangling Earrings

This style of dangling earrings was heavily inspired by the Europeans, and yet, it was entirely and distinctly Straits Chinese in its aesthetic, given the jewellery techniques used and the preference for bright yellow gold and iconic intans.

The Estate Collection No. 4 - Trio of Brooches and Bracelet

The Kerosang is widely recognised as the most iconic piece of jewellery in Peranakan culture. Embodying the old adage that nothing exists in a vacuum, the Kerosang as we know it today was adapted and born from cultures around us.

The Estate Collection No. 3 - Edwardian Pendant Necklace and Bangle

Created in the USA, likely New York City, during The Gilded Age, this piece features the era’s signature motifs of naturalistic swirls and open work.

The Estate Collection No. 2 - Phoenix Tail Earrings

The phoenix is regarded as one of the most auspicious symbols in Chinese culture; an immortal bird whose rare appearance is said to be an omen foretelling harmony at the ascent to the throne of a new emperor and empress.

The Estate Collection No. 1 - Leaf Motif Brooch and Necklace

Created in England in the 1890s during Queen Victoria’s final years as monarch, this piece is iconic of a time in history when realist interpretations of botanicals in fine jewellery reached its zenith.

Introducing The Estate Collection

The Estate Collection encompasses antique jewellery pieces thoughtfully restored to reflect our stories across time and continents — to honour history, to shape the present, and to hold space for what’s yet to unfold.

Introduction to The Estate Collection: Our Founder’s Thoughts

In this new chapter, the brand extends its homage to the past beyond jade, working with, reinterpreting and reimagining old jewels, both from the West and the East.

The Estate Collection, Editor's Picks, PopularChoo Yilin9 November 2023The Estate Collection