User:Catwu20/Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie

= Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie =

Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie is a French-Chinese luxury jewelry design house and producer headquartered in New York City. Founded and self-titled by Taiwanese jewelry designer Anna Hu, its pieces are made with a "East meets West philosophy" and are inspired by Hu's classical music training. Positioning herself as "the only Asian American jewelry designer to work exclusively with French-trained artisans in elite workshops between Paris and New York", the firm's product lines are produced in Paris and include high-grade necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, and brooches. With a maximum of 30 pieces created per year, its pieces are sold through auctions, flagship stores, boutiques and ateliers located in Paris, Hong Kong and Taipei.

Early life and career
Anna Hu was born in 1997 in Tainan, Taiwan to a family with history in the gemstone industry. Her father held the position of a top diamond dealer and gemologist in Taiwan and her mother worked in the jade and pearl business. Hu expressed interest in jewelry at a young age, reportedly falling in love with rock diamonds when her father asked them to sort them based on shape and size. Hu was described as a "musical prodigy" had aspirations of being a world-class cellist. She studied abroad for four years at the Walnut Hill School of Arts in Boston and performed alongside award-winning cellist Yo Yo Ma, however her music career was stopped after she suffered from a shoulder tendonitis. Following this injury Hu switched careers to design, studying at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York and the Fashion Institute of Technology, and receiving Master's degrees from Parsons School of Design and Columbia University. Hu completed an internship at Christie's, and worked in the stone purchasing department at Van Cleef & Arpels and in the jewelry merchandising department at Harry Winston. At her time at Harry Winston, Hu met head designer Maurice Galli, who mentored her as his only private student. Galli encouraged Hu to create her own jewelry line, telling her "don’t be a caged bird".

Company origins
At 30 years of age, Hu launched Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie in 2007 with the mandate of creating "one of a kind jewelry made by French-trained artisans using the best stones in the world". In December 2008, Hu launched the Joaillerie's first boutique in the Plaza Hotel in New York. winning an architectural grand prize at the Association for Retail Environments Design Awards. In 2012, the Joaillerie's first flagship store opened in the Bund District in Shanghai, China, followed by its Taiwan flagship store in 2014 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Taipei. Also in 2012, Hu became first Asian jewelry designer to hold a solo exhibition at the Louvre’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. In 2016, Hu participated in the global launch of her 2016 Haute Joaillerie Collection at The Ritz Hotel in Paris in partnership with Christie's, and was invited the next year exclusively by Christie's to be the first contemporary jewelry designer to exhibit solo at their London headquarters. This Parisian presence was later secured in 2018 with permanent placement in The Ritz and a private showroom on Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Jewelry
Hu's designs are influenced by a mixture of Eastern influences and a Western style of craftsmanship. Eastern motifs used by Hu include dragons, fire phoenixes, plum blossoms, cranes, bamboo, koi fish, lotus flowers and various Buddhist works of art. Hu has expressed interest in avoiding sentiments like "here is a dragon, hence it’s Chinese" and "surface-level" cultural connections, instead prioritizing "organic-like chemistry" between Eastern and Western elements. Hu's Western influences include Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, and Rothko. Hu also credits music theory as her distinguishing approach to jewelry-making, claiming that: "I don’t design jewellery — I compose jewellery. Each note is equivalent to a gemstone, the melody is the curve of the line, the harmony is the combination of colours, and the rhythm is the technology in the details. I have never designed anything without looking to classical music." Impressionism and Art Nouveau are also cited as Hu's influences.

Hu's pieces are difficult to make, with more complex pieces taking up to two years of craftsmanship. Hu cites selecting the perfect material as the biggest challenge in the Joaillerie's jewelry making process. Pieces are often inlaid in gold and feature high-grade gemstones including colored diamonds, sapphires, tsavorite, emeralds, moonstone, jadeite , paraiba tourmaline, and rubellite. Hu's collections range from $4,000 to $438,000 per piece, with some higher end pieces priced at over $1 million.

Distribution
The Joaillerie's boutiques rely on waiting lists for popular products, such as the Duchess Hibiscus rings. The Joaillerie's pieces have been previously displayed at the 2012 Paris Louvre Museum Exhibition, 2017 Paris Christie's Exhibition, 2017 Paris Biennale Exhibition, 2018 Paris Ritz Vitrine, and the 2018 Moscow Exhibition. Additional pieces have also previously been available for auction at Christie's and Sotheby's.

In 2021, Hu released the bespoke Red Carpet Collection specifically aimed toward Hollywood stars she was close with. Celebrities and notable clients who have worn Hu's pieces include Madonna, Emily Blunt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts, Angelababy, Natalie Portman, Uma Thurman, Hilary Swank, Scarlett Johansen, Drew Barrymore, Oprah and The Queen of Bhutan.

In 2012, Hu released an art book titled Symphony of Jewels: Anna Hu Opus 1, and released a second in 2019 titled Symphony of Jewels: Anna Hu: Opus 2. Hu plans on releasing an opus in the form of a book every five years, drawing inspiration from Beethoven's proposed ten opuses. Hu has expressed that the Joaillerie does not plan to enter wholesale markets or participate in any annual jewelry shows, focusing instead on maintaining close relationships with existing clients.

Awards and recognition

 * 2008: Awarded architectural grand prize at the Association for Retail Environments Design Awards upon opening The Plaza Hotel storefront
 * 2010: Hu named "Diamond District Artisan" by the Wall Street Journal
 * 2010: Appeared as the only Asian jewelry artist in the KARA 2010 Jewelry yearbook
 * 2011: First jewelry designer to receive the China Institute’s “Artistic Vision of the Year” Award
 * 2012: First Asian jewelry artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Louvre’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris with Hu's first global exhibition, the "Symphony of Jewels: Opus 1 in Paris".
 * 2012: Winner of ELLE magazine's "International Jewellery Designer of the Year" award
 * 2013: Hu sets the world auction sales record for a Chinese contemporary jewelry artist at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong. The "Orpheus" ring, inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and featuring a 45.39 carat jadeite cabochon, sells for $2.59 million, over five times the estimated price of $500,000.
 * 2013: Hu sets the world auction sales record for a contemporary jewelry artist at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva, overtaking JAR as holder of the record. The "Cote d'Azur" brooch, featuring a 58.29 carat Burmese Sapphire, sells for $4.57 million.
 * 2017: First contemporary jewelry artist to hold a solo exhibition at Christie's London headquarters
 * 2018: First Asian jewelry artist featured on Le Comité Vendome Paris's official couture calendar
 * 2018: With the "China Red Magic" brooch, becomes the first Asian contemporary jewelry artist to be included in the permanent collection of the State Historical Museum in Moscow, Russia
 * 2019: First Asian artist to participate in PAD Monaco and London's contemporary art and design fair
 * 2019: Hu resets the world auction sales record for a Chinese contemporary jewelry artist at Christie's Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Auction in Hong Kong. The Dunhuang Pipa Necklace, commissioned by Sotheby's and featuring a 100.02 carat fancy yellow diamond, sells for $5.78 million.

Philanthropy
In 2019, Sotheby's invited Hu to create five pieces inspired by Chinese heritage and music, as a part of The Silk Road series. A portion of proceeds went toward cellist Yo Yo Ma's nonprofit Silkroad.

In July 2020, Anna Hu sold a necklace, ring, a pair of earrings and her original sketches through an online auction held by Christie's Hong Kong, raising $338,781 for the families of frontline workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 500 brown diamonds used in the pieces were donated by Diamonds That Care, a social responsibility initiative led by diamond giant Alrosa by that sustainably sources diamonds from Serbia. Proceeds were donated to The Brave of Heart Fund, as selected by nonprofit Diamonds Do Good.

Hu also attended Prince Albert's Monte Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean in Monaco to raise awareness for endangered aquatic life and donated her Leaping Koi brooch-necklace to raise funds.