Designer brings artistic gems
For Feng Ji, a necklace or a ring is not just jewelry
In the summer of 2008, the 23-year-old Feng Ji graduated from the China Academy of Art and wanted to study sports car design at the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. But she failed to get a visa to go to the United States.
Later, she applied to the University of the Arts London where she was admitted to learn jewelry design.
“Sports car design sounds cool and trendy. But I then persuaded myself that no woman does not like jewelry,” says Feng, some 10 years after she established her own high jewelry brand Feng J in Paris.
After opening her first store in Shanghai in April, she will soon open a jewelry salon at Place Vendome in Paris.
Now, the renowned Paris art and jewelry dealer, the Karry Berreby Gallery, has signed a contract to showcase her work at PAD London, the world’s leading fair for contemporary art, design and decorative arts, in October and PAD Geneva in January 2019.
Commenting on her work, The French Jewelry Post says Feng is a “jeweler of the 21st century”. It also says she is considered to be a young master of high jewelry from China, and her works are called Chinese designs made in Paris.
Feng, who was born into a well-todo family in 1985 in Hangzhou, the capital of East China’s Zhejiang province, says her love for art comes from her great-grandfather who was a court artist in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Besides, her parents also like collecting antiques and art works.
Feng started to learn Chinese painting and calligraphy at 5 with a local master. And later, with a strong Chinese traditional art background, she chose to learn product design, a relatively trendy major at the China Academy of Art.
Her four years in London opened her eyes and mind of art. As an intern, she was trained and worked for the jewelry department of Alexander McQueen in London.
There she found herself gradually falling in love with jewelry, she says, adding: “In the workshop I found that designing a piece of jewelry was just like painting with gemstones.”
So, after she received a master’s degree from the University of the Arts London, she went to the Gemological Institute of America — the world’s most foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones and pearls — to join its Graduate Gemologist program.
There, she gained both technical expertise and practical skills to evaluate gemstones.
Later, she went to the Gublin Academy in Switzerland. And in 2016 she was admitted to the Haute Ecole de Joaillerie in Paris.
The Haute Ecole de Joaillerie, founded in 1864, is a place where most of the luxury brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, Dior and LVMH have their jewelry craftsmen from.
Speaking of her time there, Feng, who was then the only student speaking Chinese in those workshops, says: “Their superior craftsmanship deeply impressed me. I studied with French ateliers there, and spent hundreds hours on attaining perfection.”
In Paris, she became addicted to gems. And describing her time there, she says: “I enjoyed working with the old craftsmen. Making a piece of jewelry is like giving birth. Design is just the beginning. The production is about how to make the design come alive.”
Feng’s designs are European in style, but the Chinese aesthetics are always visible. And she enjoys using gemstones of all hues.
Describing her love for gemstones, the French Jewelry Post says: “In Feng Ji’s interpretation they acquire a surprisingly dramatic impact, allowing precious items to look thrillingly modern.
“Like an artist paints, she delicately mixes bold vivid colors and sculptural shapes with oriental and occidental motifs, revealing exquisite craftsmanship, highly valued and appreciated by connoisseurs and the world’s foremost jewelry investors.”
As for Feng, she says: “Like many other fields, jewelry is also emerging in China. I know that some Chinese designers and brands and some products sell well online. But my ambition is to do real high jewelry in China with precious gems and unique designs.
“To me, jewelry is not only about how much it is worth. A necklace or a ring is a piece of art.”
Feng’s designs are European in style, but the Chinese aesthetics are always visible. And she enjoys using gemstones of all hues.