“To me there’s something very mysterious and magical about antique jewelry, they have so much history and stories to tell.” Xiao Wang says jewelry is in her DNA. With an incredibly popular jewelry line just recently launched, a modeling career and love for fashion–not to mention some cute chihuahua babies, she has a fun and fabulous life living in NYC. But what came before all this? A deep love for antique jewelry! She has been collecting for six years, and coincidently that is how old Gem Gossip is, which she has been a fan of since the beginning! We’ve emailed each other years ago, I even have a Victorian ring from her collection. Finally getting a chance to meet at Couture this year was such a great experience and long time coming! Xiao even came to check out the Doyle & Doyle event, where she reconnected her love for antique jewelry after focusing on designing her new collections. It was fun showing her more from my personal collection!
With New York City being her home, it is easily also her favorite place to treasure hunt. The Chelsea Showplace antique center is one of her top choices, which hosts private “galleries” open to the public seven days a week, located on 25th Street. Xiao also has luck traveling to Upstate New York to find antique treasures.
Antique rings from every time period are key pieces in her personal collection, and she loves a good brooch! The cute rooster is not only a part of her collection, but a great inspiration to her new designs. “The Lavalier pendant in velvet box, I loved it when I saw it and purchased it right away, when I was paying for it I asked the seller if the blue stone was a sapphire, he and I both took a look under the loop and we both noticed it changed colors, turns out it was an alexandrite!” This is proof of what all antique jewelry collectors are tuned into–the thrill of the hunt and not knowing what you’ll find next!
Thanks for sharing your personal antique jewelry collection, Xiao Wang. To check out her jewelry designs, head over to her website. All photos by Tiff Pemberton.
Clint B October 21, 2014 at 8:28 pm:
What type of ring holder is in the third picture? It looks rather like pages of the end of a book. It seems one would be able to store a lot more rings with such a ring holder than what most are capable of holding.
Nicola October 25, 2014 at 10:02 pm:
Ditto! I was thinking exactly the same thing about the jewellery box; are they thin layers of leather? Detail please!