Terms Of Engagement

The advantages of having an independent brand were revealed to a young jewelry designer amid the lockdown.

- Victor Chen

At Raffles Design Institute Singapore, Yasmin Tjoeng learned how to design jewelry on paper with maquettes and manipulate metal and set stones on them. These primary instructions served her well as she developed her style, and later on, her brand of luxury artisanal jewelry. “Silversmithing and setting gemstones are so important,” she surmises, “as being a good designer also means having a strong understanding of the construction and technicality of a piece.”

The technicality she speaks of is articulated in her collections. They consist of immaculate designs that are reminiscent of both ancient and vintage jewelry with a contemporary air. “We were also taught to begin a design with an inspiration and a concept – these two together lend to much more interesting designs being created. All of these skills I learned in art school, I still apply to my designs today.”

Jewelry design was not the first artistic endeavor that Tjoeng tried her hands on. She started as a commerce and architectural interior design student. Today, as she looks back, she feels she has not wasted her time, however. “All of (those) helped me in my journey in becoming an independent jewelry designer, both in running a design business and approaching jewelry from an architectural mindset.”

We caught up with Tjoeng as she emerges from the circuit breaker, which she spent exploring her brand's strengths and finding out what she could do on her own terms.

There were other avenues open to you as a creative person, but why did you decide to pursue jewelry design? Who or what inspired you to become a jeweler?