Monaco is home to the rich and famous. An iconic centre of glamour and excitement, where the most beautiful women on earth are photographed and sparkling jewels are showcased. My Mother Agency has the great privilege of meeting with Sarah Ho, renowned jewellery designer, whose elegant bejewelled masterpieces are showcased globally.
Scarlett – What were your influencing factors into becoming a jewellery designer?
Sarah – One of the main reasons I became a jewellery designer was the influence by my grandmother. I grew up in Macau and I was always mesmerised by the jewellery she would wear; she would have a different outfit everyday with the most amazing jewels to match.
20 or 30 years ago in Asia, and even now, the main point of buying jewellery is for investment and many would normally choose rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds – whereas my grandmother was different, if she was wearing a green outfit, she would not have just emeralds, but she would also have jade, malachite and all the gemstones you could imagine.
Scarlett – As well as your grandmother, who else is your muse/icon?
Sarah – My mother was also a lover of jewellery and I was very lucky to inherit a lot of her jewellery pieces. She used to wear very Bohemian clothes; you would never see her without jewellery; very 60s, very big, Bohemian style jewellery. She was London’s “It” girl in the 60s, modelling for different Fashion houses and Ozzie Clark’s muse at the time. And now she is my muse, I love her style, her carefree spirit and her look was never complete without her jewellery.
All the women in my family have been an inspiration to me, combined with my love of gemstones; you can see the influence they have on me. I actually started studying fashion, then when I graduated as a fashion designer, I kept putting beads and gems on my dresses, and that was a sign that jewellery was my calling.
Scarlett – How is your brand defined and what are some of its signature features?
Sarah – The aesthetic of my brand has been defined by my fashion past, I love textiles and embroideries – I’m fascinated by them, so every time I see fashion designers who use a lot of embroidery and sequins, I just go crazy! I feel that’s where my main inspiration comes from, so in a lot of my pieces you can see the way I place the gemstones and my colour combinations – they are very similar to embroidery or sequinned fabric.
Scarlett – Do you think your upbringing in Macau had an influence on your designs?
Sarah – My childhood in Macau definitely influenced how I design. The mix of my mother being British and my father from Hong Kong, means I tend to draw on both cultures when I’m designing a piece of jewellery. For example, in my ‘Numerati’ Collection, which is based on lucky numbers and numerology, that is something very Asian as numbers play a huge part in our lives. I remember my family were serious about this – they wouldn’t even organise an event unless it was set on a special day that would bring success – or choose phone numbers or anything! So, yes it has a huge influence, and actually my ‘Numerati’ Collection as you can see now, is one of the award-winning collections that I’ve created. People love to be able to wear a piece of jewellery that is also a lucky symbol – I think that just takes it to another level and becomes more personalised.
Scarlett – How do you make sure that your company is ethical, and your materials are ethically sourced? Do you think designers should have a moral ethical responsibility?
Sarah – We have been profiled in British Vogue and the Financial Times for our sustainable approach to sourcing gemstones. I buy antique jewellery and repurpose the stones into new designs, so a lot of my gemstones are very old. We also use 100% recycled gold; both of these approaches lower our carbon footprint.
I believe that we are one of the leaders in using this kind of repurposing in our main pieces as a fine jewellery brand. And our clients love it as it actually makes a lot of sense – there is a lot of jewellery out there that has been forgotten, so I’m there to give it a new life. We also offer a revamp opportunity to our clients, as part of our bespoke service, which our customers absolutely love. So if you have any old jewellery that you don’t wear anymore that’s forgotten in your safe, in your jewellery box, or maybe that was inherited and is not in the style you like, we can book a consultation and we’ll unset all the stones and redesign a new piece of jewellery for you. We’re very proud and I’m very proud of our company ethos – I think it’s very important as a brand to find your own way to be more sustainable nowadays.
Scarlett – What was the most challenging part about starting your own jewellery company?
Sarah – (sighs and laughs) ahh, where do I start?! I think my biggest challenge was believing in myself – it took me a lot of years to overcome doubt and I was a bit unsure about my decisions as a designer and as a businesswoman. It took a long time for me to realise that in order to become a successful brand, the first thing you have to do is believe in yourself.
Scarlett – Do you have a favourite collection or iconic piece?
Sarah – ‘Numerati’ is one of my favourite collections. I’m a number 1! What’s clever about this collection is that the numbers are hidden when you wear them, so only you know what your lucky number is. Then, when you have it on display, that’s when you see the full number. The full number is revealed looking at the front and back of the ring together to create the number.
So that’s definitely one of my favourites – the design stage took me two years to perfect the final outcome.
I would say I also love my latest collection, which is all centred around natural pearls. I’ve always loved pearls, and recently I have really dived into natural pearls and have been fascinated to find out more about them, just because they are so rare. More than 90% of the pearls in this world are cultured, from pearl farms – so to find a wild pearl in the seas and oceans pretty much doesn’t exist anymore. I have sourced most of my natural pearls from items like antique tiaras and jewellery and I repurposed them into beautiful modern, contemporary fine jewellery.
Scarlett – Throughout history, jewellery has had an important role in defining class and status – do you think in modern society this is still relevant?
Sarah – Historically, jewellery had a role symbolising class and status, but I think that this is no longer relevant. I believe jewellery is an extension to fashion – an outfit simply wouldn’t be complete without jewellery.
I think that’s why my jewellery collections are very colourful – I love colour and patterns! This is influenced by my fashion background; I love using gemstones to represent that in my work. So, in a way, I’m building an outfit together through my jewels.
Scarlett – Do you think the internet has changed fashion?
Sarah – The internet has absolutely changed fashion. I completely believe that digital is the future, we have noticed a huge difference in how our client’s shop, even more significantly in this year – since lockdown.
For luxury goods like jewellery – which was slow to convert to a digital presence a few years ago – suddenly this year it has become necessary to adapt for this market.
Scarlett – What do you think the future of jewellery is?
Sarah – The future of jewellery, and of all fashion really, is sustainability. Consumers are more tuned in to where their purchases come from. A number of designers are using sustainably sourced gemstones or finding other ways to become more environmentally aware – like us. We’ve chosen to repurpose old jewellery, and this is our way of being sustainable, but I honestly feel this is the future, it’s every designer’s responsibility to find their way to create a better world.
Scarlett – What are you looking for when you choose the 2021 ‘face’ of Sarah Ho?
Sarah – My jewellery is timeless and can be worn by anyone. I like to design fresh, contemporary jewellery that will stand the test of time. My jewellery has a certain style, but that does not define who can wear it. Clients have often said that they feel my jewellery can be worn and enjoyed by someone in their 20s, 30s but equally by people in their 60s or 70’s.
Scarlett – How do you see the evolution of the Sarah Ho brand in 2021?
Sarah – How do we evolve the brand into the next year? (laughs). Now that’s a difficult one, with what’s happened this year! Well, we’ve now just moved to Monaco, which is very exciting new chapter so, despite what’s been going on in 2020, we’ve actually turned it into a positive for us already. In 2021, I’ll be able to build the brand more in Monaco itself – that is my main priority – and I hope that one day we’ll be able to have a retail location. So that’s part of our exciting plan…. and to keep designing more new collections and masterpieces of course!!
Scarlett – Do you and will you source models in the future for your brand? And if so, what is a key requirement for you?
Sarah – Definitely, the use of models to show our jewellery is key to our marketing. The luxury jewellery market has become more digital over the years, and especially during lock down. Being able to show how a piece of jewellery looks on – how it fits and moves with you, how big it is when worn, how it looks against your skin – it is replicating the sensory experience of being in a showroom as much as it can.
We are so looking forward to shooting and filming more for our social media in collaboration with the online modelling and talent platform, My Mother Agency. We like that the models they discover bring a fresh and dynamic perspective to our future campaigns.
A key requirement? The models reflect the customer, therefore we would want to use models that represent all walks of life, to show the diversity of the people that wear our jewellery.
Interview by Scarlett Caudwell – Burgess, Junior Editor MM Agency Magazine