by Esther Wambui
Creativity applied to luxury; imagination that must take into consideration technical challenges; minute details capable of enhancing the rarest and most precious stones on the planet. The jewelry designer’s profession is all this and much more.
While on my way to meet jewelry master Hyunjung Park at the editorial office, my mind begins to wonder about the necessary steps of the creative process that lead to the precious jewels made by goldsmiths through sophisticated machinery following the directions of the designer.
Hyunjung Park welcomes us with a wide and wise smile. Meanwhile, she shows us her latest creations neatly displayed on her work table.
It all starts with a blank sheet of paper. With closed eyes, she imagines each of the lines that harmoniously compose the jewel’s form. Then, she translates the imagined into the tangible, through the pencil strokes of a sketch first by hand, then digitally modeled in 3D. Following is the dialogue, the act of listening to the customer and the technician who will make the jewel. Before the gold is melted, before the stone is set, a final check is made at every detail. Step by step, the finished product and the finished artwork contain the exquisite imaginative ability of the designer who created it.
Hyunjung Park has discovered her vocation early on, and today, after ten years of her career, she can boast of collaborating with international brands such as W.Britt designer, de Grisogono, and Julius Klein group. After winning the KJDA international design contest in South Korea in 2013, her career accelerated and took her to New York to work as a jewelry designer.
Ancient goldsmith traditions that mix with a daily search for new technology and innovative solutions and designs, have made her jewels some of the most sought-after in New York City.
The light that enters from the window of her studio illuminates both her gaze and creations. I leave her studio convinced that I met one of the most distinguished jewelry designers in the city. The present of the jewelry world, thanks to masters like Hyunjung Park, is in good hands.
