Bridge jewelry by Annie Chen

CEBU, Philippines – Annie Chen, the Singapore-based Chinese-Filipino jewelry designer, recently launched her coffee table book at the 856 G Gallery in Mandaue City. The one hundred twenty-page carefully thought-out book showcases the artist’s timeless bridge jewelry collection in various organic shapes and geometric patterns.

With 21 years of experience in designing and creating bridge jewelry, Chen has harnessed the knowledge of silversmithing which is vital in executing the fine points in these wearable works of art.

The innovative pieces portray elements of the past with modern touches that greatly appeal to sophisticated women. Chen’s designs are typical examples of bridge jewelry, so named because it is the bridge between costume and fine jewelry. A lot of bridge jewelry is artisan-made, using gold filled or silver as the metal, with semi precious stones such as amethyst, citrine, turquoise, jade, topaz, fresh water pearls, garnet, onyx, tourmaline, and others.

The event also marked the launch of Annie Chen’s hard-bound coffee table book that features the artist’s sketches and showcases her cherished, high quality jewelry collection.

The Contemporary Silver Line instills new life in its creations. The mixture of gemstones and components are unusual yet compatible with one another. The jewelry is classic, simple yet elegant. A standout is the necklace studded with multi-colored semi-precious gems: peridot, topaz, citrine, amethyst and garnet. The Esoteric Collection was inspired by Chen’s experiences in exotic places such as Cairo, Bhutan and Nepal. In Egypt, the artist noticed that no other civilization had manufactured such enormous variety of beads of so many materials that were used in necklaces, belts and sandals. Annie Chen’s interpretation of silver jewelry for evening wear is illustrated in the Noir Collection. The jewelry takes on a modernist approach in which form follows function, so the pieces themselves are never cumbersome. The most unusual of the artist’s line is the Divine Collection. It includes hair accessories, pendants out of snuff bottles with silver and gem encasements, headbands, charms and belts with the most stylish and classy settings and combinations. Chen deviated from her usual style to come up with the look of exquisite jewelry pieces.

The general concept of the four coIlections is best described in the words of the artist. “Carefully using resources and materials the way a painter would use the colors in his palette, I pay careful attention to the quality and artistic balance in my craft, to make the jewelry even more personal. I would never design silver jewelry I would not wear myself,” she said.

All the accessories such as necklaces, brooches, bracelets and earrings are colorful, original, innovative and eye-catching. Most definitely, wearing one of Annie Chen’s creations will set you apart from the crowd.

Part of the book sale proceeds will go to the Museo Sugbo and Chiye Mori Design Library.