[MUSIC PLAYING]
I'm from Taiwan, and my name is Yue-Yo Wong.
My brand and company is called, Wong Yue-Yo Jewelry.
My design style is based on traditional Chinese style.
This is my 20th year in the jewelry industry.
I've promoted the Chinese, traditional style of jewelry
since the beginning of my career.
I strive to make jewelry design more artistic
and, at the same time, more appealing to ordinary people.
I really enjoy our Chinese traditions, especially
Chinese knotting art.
I started with thread knotting, and now we
are combining thread-knotting skills
with modern jewelry making techniques in our products.
I began as an instructor of Chinese knotting art.
Because the materials used for knotting
are usually pretty cheap, like cotton threads,
I had been trying to find a way to present it
in a more elegant and expensive way.
Then I thought about using valuable gemstones combined
with knotting and other traditional art.
For me, the biggest change is the difference in materials.
Our company takes care of everything
from purchasing loose stones to jewelry retailing.
We make our own products and aim for a high-end Chinese style
of jewelry.
Usually, I make a sketch of the design.
Then I pass the design along to our jewelers.
They are all very experienced.
Some of them have more than 30 years experience
in jewelry making.
I entered the mainland China market in 2006,
seven years ago.
During this time, I've seen the market
being developed extremely fast.
At first, customers didn't know much about gemstones.
Now they are better educated about gemstones
and have their very own special taste.
With the fast development of China's economy,
more and more people can afford luxury goods, like jewelry.
A lot of them started to think about what they really want.
I do think that the Chinese market is huge
and has great potential.
What we need to do is to let our designs stand out.
We do custom jewelry for our clients.
I want my brand to be seen as high-end.
And I have at least one specialized store
in every major city in mainland China.
Now, I have more than 10 stores all over the country.
This is my first time in the city of Changsha.
I hope that I can introduce our artistic jewelry to more people
through this mineral and jewelry show.
I formed an association of creative jewelry designers
in Taiwan in 2012.
Now we have almost 100 members.
I've been working very hard on training new designers
and want to provide the young generation
with a platform for their talents.
I've met a lot of students majoring in jewelry design
at every jewelry show held in mainland China.
A lot of them are from the China University of Geosciences
and the China Academy of Fine Art.
These students are very excited about their major,
so I do see the hope for jewellery design in China.
Students learn lots of concepts at school.
At jewelry shows, they learn more than that.
Every time I meet them, they ask me
a lot of practical questions.
The center stones of this piece are opals
and the theme is the dove of peace.
Long ago when there was no easy transportation,
people used doves to exchange messages.
That was my inspiration for this piece.
Years ago in China, people who wanted
to be hired by the government had to leave their hometowns
to take exams.
They used doves to send good messages back
to their families.
I put a little envelope down here to express this idea.
This small bottle in Chinese is called
ping which means "everything is fine with someone"
or "being peaceful."
And there's a little Chinese character
xi at the bottom, which means "happiness."
So the dove is bringing happy and peaceful messages
back home.
I also hope that I can play the role of a modern dove of peace
between mainland China and Taiwan's jewelry industry.
We need to communicate more to grow our jewelry
industry together.
I found these two opals first and then thought
about what theme to use on them.
The pattern on the opals looks like landscape,
which made me think about how does fly over mountains
and valleys to pass messages.
The center stone in this piece is the organic gem, coral.
There are three gemstones that can represent
Taiwan-- coral, Taiwan jade, and Taiwan blue chalcedony.
This piece of coral has a fine red color.
When I first looked at the shape or profile of this coral,
an eagle came to mind as the theme.
The accent stones are diamonds and sapphire.
The eagle is a very strong bird which some people are drawn to.
I want the person who wears it to be as brave as this eagle.
When I design jewelry, there are always
some elements coming from deep in my heart that
are incorporated into the jewelry piece.