Jewelry Inspired by the Journey

How Travel Shapes My Design

I have always been curious about people and places that are different from my own.

As a child, I loved discovering different cultures and meeting people with different personalities and perspectives. I was drawn to the feeling of seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.

I think that curiosity has quietly shaped the way I see beauty—and eventually, the way I design jewelry.

A Different Way of Seeing

At 21, I moved from China to the United States after receiving an offer from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Moving to America felt like stepping into a completely different world.

Savannah was a small Southern city with a distinctly European feeling—historic streets, beautiful architecture, and a slower rhythm of life. But what stayed with me most was the people I met at SCAD.

I found myself surrounded by artists and designers who were expressive, confident, open-minded, and unafraid to be themselves.

Some dressed in ways I had never seen before. They could walk from the studio to the street in completely unexpected outfits, and somehow it all felt natural.

For the first time, I began to understand that personal style didn't have to follow a set of rules.

Beauty could be personal.

It could be expressive.

And it didn't have to look the same for everyone.

Finding Beauty in the Details

Years later, traveling to Japan gave me another perspective.

The contrast was striking. Compared with the expressive, individual style I had become familiar with in the United States, Japanese fashion often felt more restrained and intentional.

But that restraint didn't mean a lack of beauty.

I noticed how a small, carefully chosen detail—a delicate piece of jewelry, a beautiful texture, a subtle accessory—could completely change the feeling of an outfit.

Beauty didn't always need to be loud.

Sometimes, it was in the details.

That idea stayed with me.

Discovering Beauty in Bali

In 2023, I had the opportunity to visit Bali, a small island in Indonesia.

What stayed with me was not just the beauty of the island, but the way people embraced craftsmanship and the materials found around them.

Shells, stones, pearls, wood, and other natural materials were transformed into all kinds of objects—necklaces, scarves, vases, lamps, even tables.

There was something wonderfully expressive about the way everyday materials could become art.

It made me realize that beauty doesn't have just one direction.

There is the beauty of nature.

The beauty of design.

And sometimes, the beauty of something bold and unexpected.

Bali reminded me that there doesn't always have to be a right way to create something beautiful. There is room for simplicity, imperfection, exaggeration, and everything in between.

And that freedom has stayed with me.

What the Journey Taught Me

Looking back, I don't think travel simply gave me inspiration.

It changed the way I look.

Each place showed me a different way of understanding beauty.

My childhood in China gave me a connection to familiar materials, memories, and traditions. Savannah taught me to embrace individuality and self-expression. Japan showed me the quiet power of restraint and thoughtful details. Bali reminded me to look to nature and to be open to unexpected forms.

None of these experiences gave me a single style.

Instead, they gave me a way of seeing.

I began to notice the shape of a stone, the texture of a handmade object, the way light catches a pearl, or the beauty of something that isn't perfectly symmetrical.

Those small observations often stay with us long after a journey ends.

From Journey to Jewelry

This is what I carry into PearlaChicago.

I love natural materials because they already have a story of their own. I love organic shapes because they don't need to be perfectly symmetrical to be beautiful. And I love combining unexpected details with familiar forms.

For me, designing jewelry is not about following one definition of beauty.

It is about finding the balance between the natural and the designed, the classic and the unexpected, the quiet and the expressive.

Perhaps that is why travel has become such an important part of my creative life.

Every journey changes us in small ways.

And sometimes, those changes find their way into what we create.

Designed with curiosity. Made with intention.

The Ondine Dual Pearl Wave Ring