Designer Spotlight: Anna Hu haute joaillerie

She has studied at the Gemological Institute of America, F.I.T., Parsons School of Design (Masters, 19th century French Jewelry) and Columbia University (Masters, Arts Administration). After working for Christie’s, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Harry Winston, she founded her namesake brand, Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie, at the age of 30 and opened her first boutique one year later in New York’s famed Plaza Hotel.

A prodigy cellist, Anna’s design inspirations are often rooted in her deep devotion to classical music, though she also draws from her heritage and nature, and occasionally references Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Anna is as much a scholar as she is an artist and her designs reflect that rarity and sophistication. She works exclusively with French-trained artisans, who are masters of old-world craftsmanship and stewards of new-world innovation. Her ateliers in New York and Paris are among the world’s finest.

Anna presented her first global exhibition at the Louvre’s Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris in July 2012 at the age of 35 and celebrated the launch of her first book, Symphony of Jewels, Opus 1, published by The Vendome Press and Thames & Hudson. It’s a limited edition art book featuring 100 masterpieces from Anna’s illustrious body of work. Her goal is to publish 10 opuses in her lifetime, each featuring a curated selection of one-of-a-kind works of jewelry art, with Opus 2 set to debut globally in 2017.

Recognized internationally for her work, Anna has received ELLE China’s "International Jewelry Designer of the Year" award, alongside Christian Louboutin and Viktor & Rolf, and the China Institute’s “Artistic Vision” award in New York; the first time it has ever been given to a jewelry designer.

Her creations have been worn by style-influencers including Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, Emily Blunt, Scarlett Johansson, Naomi Watts, Uma Thurman, the acclaimed contemporary artist Cindy Sherman, and the Queen of Bhutan. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, W, The New York Times, ELLE, InStyle, Robb Report, The Financial Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue Gioiello, and leading Chinese publications including South China Morning Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, ELLE, L’officiel, InStyle, Marie Claire, and Soon.
 
In 2013, Anna broke the world auction record for the highest price paid for a contemporary jewelry designer at the Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva.