In just one year, home-grown jewellery label State Property has sealed its status as a cult favourite among jewellery collectors here. This boils down to the aesthetic it champions: Pared-down, architectural, stark, and abstract. In a sense, it’s a look that Margiela fans will approve and very, very fashionable.
Their creativity and relevance in the industry has something to do with the way they work. Founders Afzal Imram is an industrial designer, while his partner Lin Ruiyin was trained at Central Saint Martins’ College of Art and Design. They don’t just craft jewellery, they also helm creative agency Proper People. In short, they’re the kind of business millennials will love.
Their approach to making jewellery is also refreshing. Says Lin: “We want to be a brand that can create things beyond the physical pieces. We see jewellery as objects for the body, and objects as jewellery for spaces. This seemingly cursory adjustment tints everything we do.”
Their latest collection, “A Chromatic Interlude”, manifests that idea elegantly. Compared to the ultra minimalist and industrial-tinged works of their first two collections, this recent outing – launching today on its website and stockists like Kapok@National Design Center and the Industry+ Store – sees more fluid (read: feminine) lines, plenty of coloured gems like multi-coloured sapphires and tourmalines, and a modern and delicate twist to antique jewellery.
Staying true to their mantra that jewellery are organic objects that shape and wrap around the body, this collection also sees open rings, palm band, arm bangles and the ilk. “Frankly, we were feeling a lot more playful during this collection, which we think is also a reaction to the deliberate rigidity we placed on our first collection,” says Lin.
“The notion of displacement was the core of “A Chromatic Interlude”, so naturally the forms that the objects and jewellery took were irregular.” Take, for instance, the cross-linked shaped Maestro double ring with diamonds which envelops the fingers. “It results in new gestures,” Lin adds.
The pieces ($220-$5,100) are handcrafted by artisans locally and in Bangkok, and comprises both one-off designs and those produced in limited runs. Naturally, there’s a new-age way of selling jewellery with these folks. The 50-piece Rococo ear studs collection, for example, are sold individually, each with its own unique arrangement of sapphires to let you wear your jewellery with personality.
Here, Lin walks us through six stand-out pieces from State Property’s latest outing.
