A Cut Above

THE CEO OF EMPEROR WATCH AND JEWELLERY, CINDY YEUNG, IS TAKING HER PASSION FOR GEMS AND DESIGN TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH THE LAUNCH OF HER STAND-ALONE BRAND, NUÒ

You’ve been designing jewellery for Emperor clients for the past 10 to 15 years. Why launch a brand now?

I don’t want to wait. All along I’ve had so many ideas and designs, and I don’t want to lose them. I think it’s time for us to have a brand because then we can do more: more designs, add more value, more awareness, and tell the story behind it. What I want to create with Nuò by Cindy Yeung is, of course, luxury. Second, I want this brand to be East-meets-West, always. Because we are Chinese, we want to look very Asian. But a lot of Westerners love to wear [Asian styles] too.

What’s the meaning behind the name?

The first character in my name is pronounced “nuò” in Putonghua, which means “promise”. I also used it for my daughter’s name, so it’s quite meaningful for me. And I wanted a Chinese name that sounds very international.

What sets Nuò apart from other brands?

Everything is my design, my inspiration and all are one of a kind. We also want to emphasise jade because we are Chinese, so we know exactly what kind of design makes jade look the best. International brands have a lot of stones they can play with — diamonds, sapphires, pearls — but they don’t know how to play with jade. So I think this is the strength that we have.

What can we expect from your debut collection, Celestial Gift?

There are around 200 pieces, with my favourites including a diamond necklace inspired by the collar of a Chinese qipao, a jade and ruby wulu-inspired design, and a colourful necklace that I designed after attending a wedding in India.