The magic of handcrafted jewellery and why it will live on – jewellery designers in Hong Kong pass on their knowledge to next generation

Jan Preece is a goldsmith and silversmith, while Stephany Gabriel specialises in hand engraving. Despite new technology, both believe in the human touch

They teach their skills to students at Hong Kong’s Hatton Jewellery Institute

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Stephany Gabriel teaches hand engraving at the Hatton Jewellery Institute in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Working in Asia has made her better at her job, she says, in part because customers in the region are more demanding than in the US, where she trained.

Published: 12:15pm, 12 Nov 2019Updated: 8:39pm, 12 Nov 2019

New technology such as 3D printing has changed the jewellery industry, but for some jewellers, the romance of handcrafting items the traditional way still matters.

At the Hatton Jewellery Institute, a co-working and education space for jewellery designers and silversmiths in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, two experienced jewellers, Jan Preece and Stephany Gabriel, sit at their benches showing how to transform pieces of metal into art.

Gabriel is one of the few skilled fine hand engravers still working today. Hand engraving has mostly been replaced by automation technology.

She worked for three-and-a-half years with a master engraver at Tiffany & Co in the US state of New Jersey before being sent by the company to take charge of its hand-engraving business in the Asia-Pacific region seven years ago. If someone bought an engraved Tiffany ring in Asia in that period, it was most likely engraved by her, she says.

Jan Preece at work at the Hatton Jewellery Institute in Sheung Wan. He has worked in Hong Kong as a goldsmith and silversmith for over two decades.

Gabriel dislikes machine engraving. “It's cold. It doesn’t feel warm. It doesn’t feel welcoming,” she says.

The magic of handcrafted jewellery and why it will live on – jewellery designers in Hong Kong pass on their knowledge to next generation

Jan Preece is a goldsmith and silversmith, while Stephany Gabriel specialises in hand engraving. Despite new technology, both believe in the human touch They teach their skills to students at Hong Kong’s Hatton Jewellery Institute

Jan Preece is a goldsmith and silversmith, while Stephany Gabriel specialises in hand engraving. Despite new technology, both believe in the human touch

They teach their skills to students at Hong Kong’s Hatton Jewellery Institute