香港設(shè)計(jì)師把時(shí)尚融入玉飾設(shè)計(jì)

Beyond Green Jade

香港設(shè)計(jì)師把時(shí)尚融入玉飾設(shè)計(jì)

HONG KONG — It’s often called the stone of heaven and is believed to ward off evil.

香港——它經(jīng)常被稱為天國(guó)之石，人們相信它有辟邪的作用。

The Chinese have long been fascinated by jade — many people you pass on the street here, men and women alike, wear a bracelet or pendant — but soaring demand for the traditional deep-green color has designers increasingly turning to lavender, black, yellow and even colorless, or clear, jade.

中國(guó)人對(duì)玉石的迷戀由來(lái)已久，走過街頭，可以看到許多男女戴著玉石手鐲或吊墜——隨著對(duì)傳統(tǒng)翡翠玉石的需求飆升，如今設(shè)計(jì)師也越來(lái)越多地轉(zhuǎn)向淡紫色、黑色、黃色甚至是無(wú)色透明的玉石飾品。

In prices, “there has been an upward growth these five to six years, mainly due to the economic strength of the mainland Chinese market,” said Chiang Shiu-fung, associate vice president of Christie’s Hong Kong and a jewelry specialist.

在價(jià)格方面，“最近五六年，主要是因?yàn)榇箨懯袌?chǎng)的的經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)力在增強(qiáng)，玉石價(jià)格也持續(xù)走高，” 香港佳士得助理副總裁及珠寶專家蔣肇豐說。

Jewelry designers in Hong Kong have turned to other colors as traditional green jade becomes more expensive and hard to get. Michelle Ong, the owner and designer of the Hong Kong jewelry brand Carnet, said it took her several years to collect jade in the right size and form to create this necklace of gourd-shaped yellow jadeite and diamonds.

為了設(shè)計(jì)花朵形狀的胸針和鉆石項(xiàng)鏈，米歇爾·翁花費(fèi)了幾年時(shí)間收集形狀大小合適的玉石。

A jade necklace that once belonged to the American heiress Barbara Hutton was sold last year by Sotheby’s Hong Kong for $27.44 million, a record auction price for jade jewelry. The piece, which had been estimated to sell for $12.8 million, featured round, perfectly matched green beads with a ruby and diamond clasp by Cartier, which made the winning bid.

去年香港蘇富比以2744萬(wàn)美元的價(jià)格拍出了美國(guó)名媛芭芭拉·霍頓(Barbara Hutton)的一條翡翠項(xiàng)鏈，創(chuàng)下了玉石首飾的拍賣紀(jì)錄。這件首飾預(yù)估價(jià)在1280萬(wàn)美元，翡翠圓珠完美地搭配著卡地亞鑲配的紅寶石鑲鉆鏈扣，最后亦被卡地亞拍下。

It is such prices that have been changing the jade market.

這樣的高價(jià)持續(xù)在改變著玉石市場(chǎng)的狀況。

“When someone is spending millions of dollars purchasing a jadeite piece of jewelry, they are only concerned about the quality of the jade and not so much the design,” said Eddy Hui, artistic director of Edward Chiu Jewellery Art, a boutique in Hong Kong’s Central district that specializes in contemporary jade pieces. “They tend to stick with very traditional and simple styles because the value of the stone prohibits them from being too fashion-forward.

“人們花費(fèi)成千上百萬(wàn)美元購(gòu)買硬玉首飾，他們介意的只是玉本身的質(zhì)量，而非首飾的設(shè)計(jì)，”愛德華·邱珠寶藝術(shù)(Edward Chiu Jewellery Art)的藝術(shù)指導(dǎo)艾迪·許(Eddy Hui，音譯)說，這是一家坐落在香港中環(huán)上的精品店，專營(yíng)當(dāng)代玉石首飾。“他們喜歡非常傳統(tǒng)、非常簡(jiǎn)單的款式，因?yàn)橛灿駜r(jià)格太高，設(shè)計(jì)上不能過于追求時(shí)尚。”

“But we have been advocating other colors, which are more reasonably priced, and we can be more daring and creative, making jadeite jewels more relevant to the fashionable customer,” he said.

“但是我們正在以更為合理的價(jià)格推出其他顏色的玉石，這樣就可以更大膽、更具創(chuàng)意，讓硬玉首飾更加貼近時(shí)尚消費(fèi)人群，”他說。

Price difference

價(jià)格差異

To illustrate, Mr. Hui held up two pairs of jadeite earrings of identical design, oval disks with a cut-out pattern. The white jade was listed at 110,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $14,193; the green was 250,000 dollars, more than double the price.

為了說明自己的觀點(diǎn)，許先生拿出兩對(duì)款式相同的硬玉耳環(huán)，它們都是剪紙風(fēng)格的橢圓形，白色的一對(duì)價(jià)格是11萬(wàn)港元，約合14193美元;綠色的一對(duì)要賣25萬(wàn)港元，是白色耳環(huán)的一倍還多。

In the Chiu shop, where merchandise is displayed in gilded birdcages, Mr. Hui also showed a flower bracelet, part of the company’s Lady Lavender collection. A combination of petals in lavender jade accented with black jade, ruby spinels and diamonds mounted in 18-karat white gold, it sells for 2.3 million dollars.

在愛德華·邱店內(nèi)，商品都被陳列在鍍金的鳥籠里，許先生向我們出示了一款雕花手鐲，它屬于公司的“薰衣草女郎”(Lady Lavender)系列。手鐲上有淡紫色玉石的花瓣，配合著黑色玉石以及鑲嵌在18K白金上的紅晶石和鉆石，手鐲售價(jià)230萬(wàn)港元。

Mr. Hui said he would not make such a daring design in green jade, as a top-quality stone in that color could be put to more profitable use. “A jeweler will probably harvest the stone and make several pairs of earrings or pendants that will give a better yield,” he said.

許先生說，他不會(huì)在綠色翡翠玉石上采用這樣大膽的設(shè)計(jì)，頂尖質(zhì)量的綠翡翠要用在更加有利可圖的地方。“一件首飾可能主要使用一塊石頭開出的玉石做成，邊角料還可以做幾對(duì)耳環(huán)或幾個(gè)吊墜，這樣就可以物盡其用，”他說。

Jade actually is a general term for two substances, nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite, which is durable and looks opaque (the Chinese call it “mutton fat”), has been used since prehistoric times to create objects from utensils to weapons. Jadeite, the more valuable stone, with a quartz-like or translucent appearance, is more commonly used for jewelry and was prized by Chinese emperors during the Qing dynasty (mid-1600s to 1912). Its growing popularity has even some Western jewelry designers, such as David Webb in New York and the Paris house JAR, featuring jade in their designs.

“玉石”其實(shí)是軟玉和硬玉這兩種質(zhì)材的統(tǒng)稱。軟玉更耐久，是不透明的，中文稱之為“羊脂”，從史前時(shí)代就用來(lái)制作各種物品，從廚具到武器應(yīng)有盡有。硬玉翡翠更加昂貴，呈石英狀或半透明狀，主要用于制作首飾，深受清王朝(17世紀(jì)中期到1912年)的各位帝王喜愛。它目前也愈來(lái)愈受到西方珠寶設(shè)計(jì)師的青睞，紐約的大衛(wèi)·韋伯(David Webb)和巴黎品牌JAR都在設(shè)計(jì)中使用了玉石。

Today, most jadeite comes from Myanmar. But “top-quality Burmese jadeite is becoming rare to find,” another factor driving up prices, said Mr. Chiang of Christie’s.

如今，大多數(shù)硬玉產(chǎn)自緬甸。但是“頂尖的緬甸硬玉愈來(lái)愈難以尋覓”，佳士得的蔣先生說，這也是價(jià)格上漲的另一個(gè)原因。

Christie’s Hong Kong, which has opened a sales department for clients who do not want to wait for its twice-yearly auctions, stocks jewelry in clear and lavender jade in addition to green. Mr. Chiang displayed one of its pieces, a ring with a cabochon-style piece of colorless jadeite.

香港佳士得為不愿等待一年兩次拍賣會(huì)的客戶開設(shè)了一個(gè)銷售部門，除了翡翠玉之外，還出售透明和淡紫色的玉石首飾。蔣先生展示了其中一件物品：用透明硬玉制成的凸面寶石風(fēng)格戒指。

“White jadeite has always been loved by the Chinese. They carve religious figures like the deity Guanyin with more opaque white because the color stands for purity,” he said, referring to the Buddhist goddess of mercy. And “for more fashionable designs, a clear jadeite ring looks very contemporary.”

“中國(guó)人一直都很喜歡白色硬玉。他們用更具不透明感的白玉來(lái)雕刻觀音等佛像，因?yàn)榘咨笳髦儩崳?rdquo;——在佛教中，觀音是慈悲的象征。此外，“在更為時(shí)尚的設(shè)計(jì)中，清澈透明的硬玉戒指非常有當(dāng)代感。”

The Chiu boutique also has pieces in yellow and red jade, which Mr. Hui said are favored by European customers. “Yellow complements the fair skin tone of Caucasian clients,” he noted.

愛德華·邱店內(nèi)也出售黃玉和紅玉首飾，許先生說，歐洲顧客對(duì)這兩樣質(zhì)材格外青睞。“黃色能襯托高加索人白皙的皮膚，”他說。

While Chiu Jewellery Art focuses on dramatic, high-fashion styles, Kai-yin Lo, a self-taught designer in Hong Kong who began working with jade in the 1970s, has a more subtle aesthetic — although it also relies on various colors of jade.

“愛德華·邱珠寶藝術(shù)”喜愛引人注目，高端時(shí)尚的風(fēng)格;然而自學(xué)成才、自20世紀(jì)70年代便開始設(shè)計(jì)玉石首飾的香港設(shè)計(jì)師羅啟妍則青睞更加微妙的美學(xué)，她喜歡充分利用玉石的不同顏色。

“I have been using red, lavender, white and yellow jadeite in my design because classic green is too traditional,” she said.

“我用過紅色、淡紫色、白色和黃色硬玉，因?yàn)榻?jīng)典的翡翠綠過于傳統(tǒng)了，”她說。

Using a combination of nephrite sourced in China by antique dealers and jadeite from Hong Kong wholesalers, Ms. Lo connects jade pieces with silk cords, sometimes adding small whimsical details such as a coral ring or a horn fastener to an otherwise elegant assemblage.

羅啟妍使用從中國(guó)大陸古董商處買來(lái)的軟玉和香港經(jīng)銷商處買來(lái)的硬玉，用絲繩把玉片串起來(lái)，有時(shí)還加上一些聰明的小細(xì)節(jié)，比如一只珊瑚指環(huán)或角質(zhì)物品，最終成為一件優(yōu)雅的組合。

The stone

石材

The design of jade jewelry also is influenced by the shape, texture and characteristic of the stone.

玉石首飾設(shè)計(jì)要受玉石本身形狀、質(zhì)材和特點(diǎn)的影響。

Mr. Hui noted: “It’s not like diamond jewelry where you can create a design and source various shapes and sizes of diamonds. Jadeite is always the origin of the design itself.”

許先生說：“設(shè)計(jì)鉆石珠寶的時(shí)候，同樣的設(shè)計(jì)可以用在不同形狀、不同大小的鉆石上面。硬玉首飾通常要根據(jù)玉石本身量身定制。”

A nephew of Mr. Chiu, who died two years ago, Mr. Hui comes from a family of jadeite specialists who travel to Myanmar regularly to obtain stones. “Because we are experts, we already have our idea of what we want to make and what the quality of the jadeite before we even harvest it from the boulder,” he said.

許先生是邱先生的外甥，邱先生于兩年前去世，家族中都是玉石專家，經(jīng)常到緬甸去購(gòu)買玉石。“因?yàn)槲覀兌际切屑?，所以玉石剛一從石頭里開采出來(lái)，我們就能判斷它的質(zhì)量如何，知道該用它來(lái)制做什么。”

And sometimes a designer has to be patient.

有時(shí)候設(shè)計(jì)師必須非常耐心。

Michelle Ong, the owner and designer of the Hong Kong jewelry brand Carnet, said it took her several years to collect jade in the right size and shape for a floral-design brooch and a necklace of diamonds and gourd-shaped yellow jadeite.

香港珠寶品牌Carnet的所有者兼設(shè)計(jì)師米歇爾·翁(Michelle Ong)說，為了設(shè)計(jì)一枚花朵形狀的胸針，以及一條綴著葫蘆形狀黃色硬玉的鉆石項(xiàng)鏈，她花費(fèi)幾年時(shí)間收集形狀大小合適的玉石。

“Jadeite is always going to be the chosen gemstone for Asians because of our heritage,” she said. “And the fact that we need to take our time and find the right stone first — you can’t rush it.”

“因?yàn)槲幕瘋鞒械木壒剩灿褚恢倍际莵喼奕俗類鄣闹閷殻?rdquo;她說，“首先，我們必需花費(fèi)時(shí)間，精心選擇合適的玉石——這是急不得的。”