sychedelic. The word flashes across the mind on seeing Austy Lee’s electrifying jewellery. His designs are alive with colours and materials that glow like the neon lights that illuminate Hong Kong, where he was born and grew up.
His themes are eclectic, ranging from pieces informed by Chinese and Japanese culture to Art Deco inspirations; others depict flowers and creatures plucked from an acid-trip garden. Austy Lee’s hypercreativity has no equivalent.
Meeting Austy Lee is an experience in itself. His passion for jewellery design eclipses everything else, as though he were born to create and create some more. Does he ever sleep? “Maybe four hours a night,” he answers, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “I spend the day drawing,” he adds, pulling out sketchbooks whose pages overflow with ideas for jewellery he has made or intends to make in the future – six thousand designs at the last count.
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- Austy Lee
Austy Lee is 43 but looks ten years younger. His energy is as irresistible as gravity, pulling others towards him. We met in May 2023 at GemGenève where he was exhibiting in the show’s Emerging Talents section, although Austy Lee “emerged” a long time ago, having worked in jewellery for more than twenty years.
He started his professional life as a graphic designer. “I really wanted to do fashion design but it’s hard to break into in Hong Kong. I had the opportunity to study graphic design, then went to work for a local magazine.” That was in 2003 and it didn’t take long for this serial creative to want more. He took a degree in product design at the Hong Kong Design Institute, where he learned to make furniture, watches and various other things.
“I have an uncle who is an artisan and antiques restorer so I thought, why not learn from him,” he says. “I did an apprenticeship that taught me how to set precious stones. Combined with my knowledge of design and 3D rendering, I was equipped to create jewellery.”
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- The Shocking-Pink Lactiflora bangle & The Chinese Windmill Earrings (Chloris’ Yard Collection). ©Austy Lee Photographer: Zed Leets | Art Director: Zoe Yau Stylist: Wan Jansco at THECLOTHESURGEON Grooming: ChiChi Li Photographer’s Assistants: Audrey Tam, Ivan Yip Styling Assistant: Adrian Wong Model: Yeom at WE Management
His foothold came thanks to an internship with Swiss jewellery house Adler in Hong Kong, where he gained solid experience in design and gemstone buying – two skills he then put to good use as chief designer for local jeweller Wendy Yue.
By April 2017, Austy Lee was ready to put his name to his own studio and brand, also in Hong Kong. His first collection, the aptly named When Jewellery is Psychedelic Art, set the stage for what was to come.
“I’ve studied the architecture, cultures and religions of countries such as Japan, India, Greece, Turkey and Russia, and looked at the different ways people dress around the world. All this inspires me for my designs,” he says.
His jewellery deploys a saturated palette using stones such as Paraiba tourmalines, padparadscha sapphires, carved jade and star sapphires (thus named because they exhibit an optical phenomenon known as asterism). Favourite materials are 18K gold coated with enamel, and a special rhodium plating in a rainbow of colours.
Phillips auction house offered a selection of Austy Lee’s jewellery at its Jewels & Jadeite sale in Hong Kong in June 2022. His creations are also found at Harrods and at Harvey Nichols – Annoushka in London, to the delight of celebrities and collectors who already own pieces by the major jewellery houses and know talent and expertise when they see it.
Austy Lee loves to experiment with different ways of wearing jewellery, for example adorning ear lobes rather than the more usual French cuffs, with a pair of cufflinks. This fascinating character embraces the traditions of jewellery while rebelling against them. Unique. Austy Lee is unique.
