Edmond Chin, founder of Hong Kong-based Etcetera Limited, is best known for his big-ticket jewellery set with ultra-rare gemstones with unique modern design. He is also a pre-eminent figure in the auction field where his startling creations established a good number of world records.
A collector specialising in Southeast Asian gold ornaments for years, Singapore-born Chin has an artistic flair for and an intuitive understanding of precious gems. Starting 1994, he headed the jewellery department of Christie’s Hong Kong for five to six years. He started to design groundbreaking jewellery for auction, get commissioned for bespoke orders, and develop the wholesale business with celebrated jewellery houses including Lançon, Moussaieff Jewellers and Boghossian. In 2001, he left the auction house and launched his own atelier Etcetera. In 2015, he entered into a new phase of cooperation with Boghossian by taking the position of their creative director.
Chin keeps challenging himself to invent new techniques to meet the specific needs of his original designs. “People come to me because I always have something new for them. Staying the same brings no future for designers,” he told Hong Kong Jewellery. He also attributes his successful designs to the masterly goldsmiths he works with. “Unlike conventional craftsmen, my people are eager to spend time on experimenting different techniques,” he said. Besides Hong Kong, his artisans are from the Mainland, Switzerland, Italy and more. For a highly intricate piece, according to him, it requires a joint-effort of goldsmiths from some three localities.
His extraordinarily unique approach to modern jewellery design generously accented with top-quality gemstones soon made him a voguish name at Christie’s. “I have set eight world auction records for jewellery. My designs have been featured on the cover of Christie’s auction catalogue for several times,” he said. Among the record-breakers were a pair of natural pearl and multi-gem ear pendants sold for HK$6.8 million in 2004, and a diamond necklace set with 120-carat Burmese rubies which fetched over HK$100 million in 2015. The most recent example was the Palmette necklace Etcetera designed for Boghossian, set with Colombian emeralds and diamonds, realised nearly HK$46.5 million, setting the world record of a Colombian no-oil natural emerald jewellery.
Over the years Hong Kong has evolved into a major auction hub on a par with New York and Geneva. An auction veteran, Edmond Chin said buyers in Hong Kong are the most sophisticated of all. “I know that some avid collectors are auction regulars for over 20 years. They come to discover new designs every time which is quite a challenge to us. It is paramount for us to understand what exactly they are looking for.”
The genuine love of creating exceptional jewellery keeps Chin in being ‘anonymous’ instead of branding himself. “It sounds against the trend but I’m not interested in branding. I’d rather spend more time on searching out rare gemstones than doing marketing.”
He shares the same aspirations for jewellery with celebrated jewellery designer Suzanne Belperron: “My style is my signature.”
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