As a result of Chow Tai Fook’s vertical integration that aims to facilitate supervision of the overall business operations including raw material purchasing, design, production and marketing and sales activities across a broad distribution network, the Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Creative Centre (CTFJCC) was established in 2013 in Lunjiao, Foshan, where the company’s almost 30-year-old production facilities are located.
As the times changed, consumers in mainland China are no longer satisfied with the jewellery’s value only but they also look for good designs. This demand is also reflected by the many newly established jewellery design courses offered by institutions in various provinces and cities.
“While the overall standard of Chinese jewellery design is in a budding stage, the work of individual designers is already comparable to their counterparts in the West. I believe that in the near future Chinese designers could reach the world-class level”, CTFJCC’s executive director Ho Koon Wan commented.
Ho believes that, an environment with good atmosphere could pump up creativity. CTFJCC brings together over 60 fine designers and over 200 craftsmen to create space for the merging of creativity and craftsmanship that give birth to high-end, fashionable jewellery. Apart from general products, custom jewellery creations are also produced in the centre in response to market demands.
What’s more, CTFJCC regularly organises jewellery exhibitions of different themes for customers, members, partners and trade associations to enhance the exchange between Chow Tai Fook and its stakeholders to promote the development of the industry and the inheritance of traditions.
In 2014, CTFJCC co-established the research project “Ancient Chinese Gold Techniques” with the Art Museum, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics Protection to contribute to the preservation and inheritance of ancient Chinese gold techniques.
With a focus to inherit and develop traditional Chinese jewellery making techniques, CTFJCC combines traditional cultures with original designs to create jewellery with intricate craftsmanship. Among the creations of CTFJCC are winners of international awards, which earned the centre international recognition.
Ho explained that CTFJCC brings together the best talents in the industry; over half of their members are award winners in established competitions. Apart from jewellery making expertise, members of CTFJCC must demonstrate their pursuit of perfection and genuine passion for the industry. The centre also offers incentive programmes that encourage craftsmen to challenge and advance themselves.
In 2016 CTFJCC received the title of ‘Guangdong Province Technician Workstation’ from the Human Resource and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province, becoming the first technician workstation in the precious metal jewellery making industry.
As a platform for design incubation and cradle of talents, CTFJCC also engages in discussion and exchange with trade practitioners and academies in Hong Kong and mainland China such as Hong Kong Design Institute. In mainland China, CTFJCC set up the ‘Wong Suk Hing Studio’ in Zhengjingyi Vocational Technical School in Shunde where experienced designers of the company take the lead to nurture design talents. Veteran craftsmen of CTFJCC would also regularly participate in courses related to jewellery manufacturing offered by the school to interact with the students and pass down knowledge and craft. CTFJCC would also recruit outstanding talents from the school.
In May 2017, Chow Tai Fook partnered with six cutting-edge French designers during the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair to organise a cultural exchange exhibition of Chinese and French art. The French designers spent half a month around Beijing to experience Chinese culture in every possible aspect in order to fuse Western design ideals with traditional Chinese values to produce fashionable jewellery. Six craftsmen from CTFJCC were paired with the French designers in design workshops; new collections from the collaboration will be launched in the fiscal year of 2018. (Photo courtesy: Chow Tai Fook)
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