Verdura – Malachite Necklace

Hoseiki by Daryl Koh and Chase Woo makes handcrafted traditional Chinese jewellery that celebrates the values of wellness and spirituality with the singularity of the individual.

Jewellery has been around for centuries. From metals to gems, pearls to intricately woven strings, these small trinkets are wearable time capsules that both keepsake and impart memory — either of its source, how it was made or what it represents.

Traditional Chinese jewellery has in recent years seen a resurgence in popularity, thanks in part to younger and more affluent crowds reaching for more culturally-rooted or spiritually-backed accessories that set them apart in the increasingly homogenous style landscape. Hoseiki, which specialises in traditional Chinese jewellery, is one such brand that looks to bridge the past and the present with a supply of modern and meaningful jewellery, backed by the values of feng shui.

Founded by entrepreneurs Daryl Koh and Chase Woo, Hoseiki puts a more modern and minimalistic spin on their handcrafted exotic gemstone jewellery, while offering a plethora of services like bazi readings and auspicious date selections alongside their bread and butter — pixiu bracelets. These beaded bracelets are talismans, a symbol of protection, wealth and good fortune that people can wear either customised to their birth charts or bought to serve one of these purposes.

Aware of the popularity and thus association that traditional Chinese jewellery have with the older, more superstitious folk, Daryl, a marketing graduate made it a point to bring to the table an aesthetic that had a more mass appeal. “I have a lot of friends who have pixiu bracelets bought by their parents but they never wear them because it makes them look like loan sharks, so I wanted to take this opportunity to soften and modernise the look,” he said.