设计 JNA November/December 2023 | 27 metal to craft bigger, more elaborate yet easyto-wear pieces such as brooches and earrings. Yu’s creations are ultra-feminine. Brooches taking shape as flowers and butterflies in intoxicating colours, further accentuated with coloured gemstones and diamonds, are the stars of her titanium jewellery collections. The flower pieces are particularly fascinating, with curved, fluid-like petals that appear to embrace or cradle their conch pearl or gemstone centrepieces. The Purple Orchid brooch, a design that Yu holds close to heart, was her first foray into titanium jewellery. She wore the piece to an antique show in Las Vegas earlier this year where a buyer, captivated by the brooch, insisted on purchasing it. Yu explained, “This brooch serves as a reminder of the creative potential that titanium offers, and it continues to inspire my work as I explore new avenues in jewellery design.” Kelvin Han, designer at Anaisha Jewels Ltd, also attested to buyers’ growing predilection towards titanium jewellery pieces. Among his most coveted designs is the Four Seasons butterfly brooch, which brings to mind the colours of spring, summer, fall and winter, gracefully interpreted as gemstone-studded wings resting on titanium. Anaisha Jewels has so far developed around 30 different kinds of titanium colours, according to Han. The possibilities are endless, with designers afforded the luxury of matching the metal with like-coloured gemstones to achieve a seamless, almost invisible setting. Diamonds, fancy sapphires, emeralds and green garnets, among other gemstones, figure prominently in Han’s designs. Vivid imaginings and masterpieces With more room for design flexibility and unconventional interpretations, titanium lets jewellers take their creativity to exciting new heights. This is how designer Vitoria Wu, founder of Osi Vitoria Jewelry, conjures a world rich in imagination, colour and ingenuity with her titanium collections. Among her prized creations is a brooch whose undulating shape perfectly mimics a feather’s delicate movements. Various gemstones set in gradating titanium colours of blue, purple, pink, red and orange provide a glittering background to a spinel centre gem. The piece spent one and a half years on the designer’s bench before reaching its perfect state, revealed Wu. Creating such masterpieces necessitates a distinctive level of craftsmanship, according to Wu. She noted, “It is difficult to compare titanium with 18-karat gold, for instance, since they are different materials requiring different manufacturing techniques. Titanium is also more challenging to handle.” As it takes longer to make, titanium jewellery truly showcases unparalleled artistry and, of course, patience. Han agreed. A single titanium jewellery piece takes about one to two years to complete as the metal is hard and colours could change in the blink of an eye. By comparison, Han’s Four Seasons titanium butterfly brooch, which was a year and a half in the making, can be finished in six weeks if mounted in gold. “The task is labour-intensive and requires highly technical and skilled workers. If you take all these into consideration, titanium jewellery can be just as valuable as gold jewellery,” remarked Han. Solid future According to Yu of Joywith Jewelry, titanium is increasingly finding favour among a wider buyer Feather brooch in titanium by Vitoria Wu of Osi Vitoria 钛金属羽毛胸针，由Osi Vitoria的Vitoria Wu设计 Butterfly brooch in titanium by Victoria Yu of Joywith Jewelry 钛金属蝴蝶造型胸针， 由Joywith Jewelry的 Victoria Yu设计
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