Wan Bao Bao

IT'S FAIR TO SAY Wan Bao Bao is a living embodiment of a modern woman: independent, well-travelled, and eloquent. Her poise is as striking as the amount of bling she tends to don. Call it a job hazard but she's a jewellery designer by profession after all, and one of the most sought-after in China, at that.

Her designs are the fifth most replicated on Chinese e-commerce sites, behind international luxury brands like Cartier and Bulgari; and her well-heeled clientele includes socialites, Asian A-listers like Fan Bingbing and Zhou Xun, as well as Western celebrities like Victoria Beckham.

Wan might come from a privileged family - her grandfather Wan Li was the former chairman of the People's National Congress and her childhood home was in Zhongnanhai, the red-walled compound reserved for high-ranking Chinese government officials in Beijing's Forbidden City - but she is fiercely proud that her Red Princess status isn't what made her the style icon and successful businesswoman she is today.

Her independent streak can be traced back to her teens when she left China to study literature and photography in New York and Paris. By her own admission, she was a rebel and even went through a punk stage while living in the Big Apple. She moved to Hong Kong later to pursue a gemology course and established Bao Bao Wan Fine Jewelry in 2007.

Today, she still runs her company pretty much on her own, shuttling between her atelier in Beijing and workshop in Hong Kong, handling everything from design to marketing. When it's time to source for gemstones, she even deliberately dials down her glam factor so suppliers won't recognise her and she can drive a harder bargain.

Wan is so in-demand that her designs have adorned everything from MAC cosmetics to Mercedes-Benz smart cars. In recognition of her global appeal and cultural sophistication, she has been made a St. Regis Connoisseur, putting her in the company of fellow international luminaries like fashion designer Jason Wu, jazz musician Jamie Cullum, and polo player Nacho Figueras.

Her relationship with the luxury hotel brand spans all the way to her childhood when one of the first steps she took was climbing up and down the stairs of St Regis Beijing. Later on during her student days, a butler from the New York property specially concocted a traditional Chinese herbal brew when she was feeling unwell.

Wan has since repaid the favour, designing a special pin for St Regis butlers in Mainland China, and her latest work is an exclusive teapot-shaped pendant that pays tribute to the famed afternoon tea parties which the hotel's matriarch Caroline Astor used to host.

How did your growing up years inspire your work?

I grew up with a lot of ancient Chinese architecture and a lot of my pieces have pagodas because there was a centuries-old pagoda right next to where I lived. Hence, my designs are full of Chinese symbols like butterflies and bamboo gardens. I was the only child and didn't have many friends so I spent more time with nature and architecture and all that in turn have inspired my designs.

Do you have any favourite materials or gemstones that you like working with?

My foundation is always 18-carat gold but I like diamonds too. I enjoy working with colours a lot and would go to Thailand and Sri Lanka to source for gemstones.

How do you make your designs look modern even though you are using a lot of traditional Chinese emblems?

It's about finding the right balance: the symbols may be traditionally Chinese but their shapes can be contemporised and modernised.

Share with us what your design thought process is like.

I see the shape in my head first and then sketch it out quickly. It cannot be overly dimensional or else the design becomes too bulky and comfort gets compromised. Also, if a piece has, say, too many diamonds, you might risk scratching your cashmere, so one of the things I do when I'm shopping for jewellery myself is to test it on my clothes to see if it can cause damage. Corners are equally important: you can hurt somebody with a strong corner. After that comes colours and making sure the gold and stones used match and complement each other.

Are you influenced by any artists?

I would say Dali because surrealism opened my mind. It's the way he puts together crazy forms which might not be related but somehow he manages to make them work. In that same vein, when I start on my designs, I open my head and just let my imagination take over.

How long does it typically take you to come up with a design?

It depends; sometimes as fast as a day but there are also instances where I can take up to three months. I once spent five months trying to work out how to design a macaroon with the cream oozing but I could not get that effect because the piece was too small. I did, however, manage to pull off that melting effect with an ice cream design which was bigger. Some of the bespoke pieces also take longer so I appreciate the fact that my customers trust me with some of their rarer gemstones even though they don't know when they will be seeing the finished product.

What was the last thing you saw which inspired you?

Traditional Chinese bridges when I was walking around the Summer Palace in Beijing recently. I am also working on a piece inspired by the Temple of Heaven and because there are many steps in its architecture, I am trying to figure out how to incorporate that into the design. I don't think anybody is going to wear earrings with stairs on it so I might finish it with drops of diamonds instead. The aim of my work is also to show people the beauty of my country and our history.

As a St Regis Connoisseur, what values do you share with the hotel brand?

For me as a jewellery designer, comfort is important - just because something looks pretty on paper doesn't mean it will sit well on your ears or skin - and that isn't very different from the service a hotel provides.