The brooch is by the Chinese born designer Fei Liu who is based in Birmingham. Fei Lui came to the UK 27 years ago as a student to study at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. The school was established in the 1890s and is based in the heart of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter where it is estimated that 40% of all British jewellery is made. My brooch is made in 18ct white gold with the flower bud is an Aquamarine and the wavey stem is studded with small diamonds making the whole piece sparkle. Fei Liu says “Jewellery is a vehicle for my self-expression. It is also intended to bring more beauty, meaning and emotional fulfilment to people”. Fei Liu established the Fei Liu Fine Jewellery company in 2006 and his jewellery can be seen adorning celebrities and gracing red carpets worldwide.
Birmingham is well known for its jewellery quarter and can trace its history back to the 16th century when Roger Pembleton established his jewellery business in the town. By the 1780s there were 26 jewellery businesses. In 1773 the Brimingham assay office was established, previously all silver had to be either assayed in London or Chester. The Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton along with other Birmingham industrialists and those from Sheffield petitioned Parliament for assay offices in Birmingham and Sheffield. They held their meeting at the Crown & Anchor pub in the Strand London, which is why Sheffield has a crown symbol (this was changed to a rose in 1973) and Birmingham has an anchor.
Aquamarine gemstones are not rare and can range in colour from extremely pale to a deeper turquoise. The name was first used in 1677 and comes aqua, the Latin name for water, and marine, from marina Latin for ‘of the sea’. The worlds largest cut Aquamarine is the Dom Pedro, found in Brazil in the 1980s. The cut gem is 14 inches high and 4 inches wide and weighs in at a massive 10,363 cts. The Dom Pedro was donated to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where it is on display in the Geology gallery.
I bought my Fei Liu brooch during ‘Lockdown’ when there were no live auctions. I was attracted to the deep colour of the Aquamarine that forms the bud element of this brooch.