Feng shui crystal chandeliers diffuse a soothing light.  At first glance, the jewels displayed appear levitated in poise.  The National Gem and Mineral Collection of The Smithsonian Institution was a main inspiration for this floating-on-air effect, though FZAD softened the impression by lining the display cases with plush mohair fabric.  The installation has won multiple design awards.

                  Hu’s gracious sales director Liz Santelli, after pointing out a dazzlingly delicate diamonds-and-rubies ring in a central display, leads me through revolving elliptical showcase doors to the designer’s VIP room, its chairs and ottomans upholstered in warm, cheering crimson velvet.   Treasures, drop-dead-gorgeous treasures are arrayed on Hu’s tasteful presentation desk.   Hu herself, petite, chicly dressed, radiating an intense interior energy through her calm exterior, shakes my hand. 

                  She begins explaining the influences on her breathtaking, invertible necklace/tiara, worn by actress Debra Messing to the 11th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.   An assistant asks if we would care for coffee; Hu’s inner intensity comes that much more to the fore; “Coffee, for me, is a catalyst to creativity,” she says with a smile, and then, shaking her hands jazzily near the sides of her head,” I must have it!   You know, classical music is one of my core passions.  I trained as a cellist and even played with Yo-Yo Ma before shoulder tendinitis compelled me on a different path.   Music, though, frequently nourishes the thoughts that lead to my creations.   What the Russian composer Rachmaninoff did in the andante cantabile, 18th variation of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini absolutely sends me.   Brahms and Liszt each based compositions on that same Paganini melody, so there’s a rich cultural history of Paganini having inspired other artists.  Rachmaninoff, using Paganini’s melody upside down, fascinating when you consider it, cast the material in a discrete light of beauty.   In designing this diamond necklace that transforms into a tiara when reversed upon a purpose-designed support, I created a parallel aesthetic inversion.”

Sea Anemone by Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie

Turandot Drops - Spinel beads with carved agate and diamonds in 18k white gold total stone weight 59 carrats