Renowned for its time-honoured Thai craftsmanship, avant-garde techniques and timeless designs, Bangkok-based family enterprise The Best Gems has been serving an affluent clientele worldwide since 1988. To reach out to a younger audience, daughter of the founder Vanitchaya Kittipaisalsilp has established a modern chic fine jewellery brand T.Twinkle. Hong Kong Jewellery met the design brain behind both brands at the Bangkok fair in September 2018 and had a dialogue with her on her creations, customers and trends.
Classic and lavish as for The Best Gems, modern and chic as for T.Twinkle. How would you describe your own design style?
As a designer of both brands, I am living in the in-between balance. I always look for clothes and accessories that are motivating, playful, at the same time, classy. T.Twinkle jewellery is what I reinvented for this balancing purpose. The minimalist collections are rooted in the Italian renaissance landscapes and architectures. Thin-cut lines and cabochon texture are forged with Thai traditional craftsmanship. They are like an introduction to the definition of fine jewellery in post-modern world.
How challenging is it to design for The Best Gems, a company with tradition and heritage?
It has been a big and appealing challenge to me, to continue what my mother has built for The Best Gems’ clientele over three decades. I have learnt to think about people in a wider scope. When designing, I don’t think just about the artistic beauty of a jewellery piece, but immerge myself to understand the nature of the person who is going to wear this piece. In other words, I am not creating a piece of motley gemstone; I am creating personality for the wearer.
Consumers love to hear stories nowadays. What is the T.Twinkle story that you’d like to tell?
Think of a T.Twinkle jewellery as a magical fairy-like human being, with personality – sometimes with split personalities – with emotions and faith. Gemstones that adorn the setting are aspects of her mind. They represent craves for love, for breakthrough, and for serenity. Wearing her, you add another soul to empower your aspiration; you celebrate your sensible and lovable existence. It is a kind of gifts, which gives much more meaning to a person than just material gain. I find this narrative in the process of making a T.Twinkle jewellery preciously spiritual.
What is the significance of ‘innovation’ in the success of T.Twinkle?
T.Twinkle is all about innovation. It is at the heart of the brand, from finding the proportionate fusion of traditional Thai wisdom and Italian sentience, to structuring the blueprints that entice modern women. I can say that it took us several attempts before we arrived at where we are today. Failing before rising is the meaning of innovation, after all.
It is said that the millennials see fine jewellery from a new perspective. What do you, as a veteran jewellery designer, think they are looking for?
People have become more independent and expressive, not only with clothes and possessions, but also the whole ways of life. They even personalise the terms “different” and “unique” to have meanings for just themselves. The era that we hold on to things to show us who we are is ending. What we are looking for is not what gives meaning to our lives, but something we can give meaning to.
How does T.Twinkle better engage the info- and tech-savvy younger generations?
T.Twinkle is like a teleport of lifestyles. It is a jewellery that fits to tell different stories of diverse personalities of young people. It is a social media in itself for that its clean and fun profile allows so much room to be yourself. T.Twinkle girls can mix and match, add and minus, in confidence. It cannot end at one piece of jewellery to be you.
Would you share with us the design projects you’re currently working on?
I have just finished working on a collection called Labirinto della Masone. Like my previous collections, it takes inspiration from landscapes and architectures in Italy. This one was inspired by the Maze in Parma. However, I’m already working on a new collection, which is mainly about Thai heritage and charm. It will be launched in few months.
Thailand is generally held to be the cradle of creativity and innovation. How do you see the development of the jewellery design industry in Thailand?
Thailand today is a heaven for creatives and artists, with such open and international art community, supportive resources and technology momentum. Jewellery industry is at the forefront of this movement, for it answers to the appetite to transform art into tangible, embraceable creations. We have seen new talents taking daring choices to create marvelous works in this industry just almost everyday. I think, with such inspiring and competitive environment, the industry will progress even faster. We might soon be living on something we could only dream of few weeks ago.
What are the directional trends for jewellery designs in 2019?
People are going like something strong but not still, asymmetrical, movable, imperfect but brave. It is going to be such a fun year, I can't wait! (Photo courtesy: The Best Gems)
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