Born in Hong Kong, she lives in London, and presents her first exhibition in New York, at the Stephen Russell Gallery: Ming Lampson is a designer which has an original history and style. The new collection from her brand, Ming, is called Origins and is made up of 25 jewels. Why Origins? The explanation is that the British creative chose to take inspiration from the first jewels created by women and men of antiquity. Often simple, elementary and used as amulets. Which cannot be said about Ming jewels, which although inspired by necklaces and rings from many centuries ago, boast a quality appropriate to our times.
It is a reference to the origin, but that of the designer. For example, Ming Lampson prefers to use artisanal tools for her drawings: she personally paints the sketches in tempera, alongside 3D modeling. Furthermore, for this collection she chose jade in all its varieties: a stone used since the beginning of the human journey, but also favored on the Asian continent, where she was born. Along with jade, the Origins collection uses precious and semi-precious stones, such as kunzites, vedortite garnet, natural zircons, purple star sapphire, gray spinel, yellow beryl, amber and chalcedony.
Her new collection is called Secrets, but Ming Lampson‘s creativity has remained in the open. The London-based designer presented three of the jewels from the Secrets collection at the Phillips Woman to Woman exhibition-sale. With a pair of diamond grange earrings that, according to the creative jeweler, are reminiscent of the beaded curtains she saw everywhere in her youth in Asia. And that they can hide who knows what secrets. Another pieces in the collection are earrings with pink sapphires and rubies on platinum and a ring with a kite-cut diamond, on gold and enamel. The jewels are a new testament to Ming’s creative freshness, which is perhaps also a legacy of her particular biography.
Born in Sydney, Ming grew up in Hong Kong, then moved to London as an adult. About 20 years ago she then went to Jaipur, the Indian kingdom of precious stones, where she worked as an apprentice to a goldsmith and worked with gem dealers. Back in London, she studied jewelry design, grading diamonds, stones and pearls colored with Gia. She founded her small and refined Maison of hers, creating unique pieces that have attracted the attention of jewelry lovers.
Ming’s fusion jewels
British fusion designer Ming, between Europe and Asia, and her magnificent jewels for connoisseurs ♦
Blue eyes, pink skin, London accent. Her name is Ming. Ming Lampson, British designer, but born in Hong Kong, a former colony of Her Majesty. Now, however, she lives and works in London, with a (well-deserved) reputation as a very exclusive designer. She sells her creations only to those who understand them, she explains to gioiellis.com, because conceiving and creating a jewel is like creating a work of art that, which can be appreciated only by those who know the value and characteristics of stones and work behind a pair of earrings or a necklace.
Speaking of necklaces: in GemGèneve Ming showed a truly exceptional one, which reproduces a wisteria plant: white gold, diamonds, sapphires.
Ming learned about gems in Jaipur, India, where she was an apprentice of a local goldsmith, but also studied jewelry design at London’s Sir John Cass college, diamond appraisal at the Gemmological Association of London, and colored stones and pearls at Gia in the United States. She began her activity as a designer in 1998 and opened her atelier in Notting Hill, London, in 2007, specifically creating custom-made jewelry.
In addition, her birth in Asia led her to create jewelry by merging her Chinese roots with her British education and European craftsmanship. The Wisteria necklace is an example of this fusion. But she is also attracted by the delicate Japanese minimalism, as evidenced by the two collections, Oriental Garden and Reverence for Nature, both inspired by the Far East. Each collection consists of 15 unique pieces, all imbued with Ming’s aesthetics.
GenGèneve’s second chance
GemGèneve includes gems, designers, vintage jewelery, diamonds and … The second edition starts ♦ ︎
Started in 2018 as an adventure on which not many were ready to bet, GemGèneve returns (9-12 May) with more exhibitors and with a series of collateral events that certify its vitality.
For example, Elizabeth Fischer together with Vivienne Becker will address the issue of the relationship between jewelery design and contemporary society. Another meeting is dedicated to Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, explorer, adventurer, merchant and narrator of his wanderings, who helped develop the knowledge of elsewhere in Europe and the taste for precious stones. In short, an articulated and fully organized fair.
And so, the idea of two jewelers, Thomas Faerber and Ronny Totah, tired of the Basel formula, could have had an uncertain destiny. Instead it seems a success. The second edition of GemGenève sees the presence of around 200 exhibitors, with a large presence of those who buy and sell precious gems, diamonds, and even vintage jewelry. But not only.
Interesting, for example, the two sections dedicated to emerging designers, with Ena Iro, Horowicz Fine Jewelery, Pierre d’Alexis and Syz Firework, and the Design Vivarium area, with the presence of Alexandra Jefford, Cora Sheibani, Milio, Ming, Mr. Lieou, Nadia Morgenthaler, Ninotchka, Racine Geneva, Sean Gilson, Tatiana Verstraeten, Tenzo. Monica Battistoni