Mara Hotung: Fine Jewellery Like No Other
The fourth generation Eurasian Hong Konger harnesses her passion and expertise as a gem valuer to create one-offs using unconventional materials. Share
Mara Hotung was just 16 when mother received two loose marquise diamonds as a birthday present. Mara designed a pair of earrings around the stones, and 30 years later is still designing fine jewellery, with a penchant for unusual, one-off pieces that encompass stones such as apatite, kyanite, fire opal and resin, and accented with diamonds, rubies or sapphires.
Trained as a gemologist and gemstone valuer with a degree from the Asian Gemmological Institute and Laboratory, she went on to work for Sotheby’s Hong Kong, cataloguing eminent jewellery collections and historic gemstones. This led to a spell at Van Cleef & Arpels, where she developed her marketing skills, promoting high jewellery collections in close collaboration with the Paris team, all alongside her own design work.
A Londoner of 20 years, Mara moved to the capital and began selling her designs through discreet private sales, sold at the likes of Sotheby’s London.
Alongside her professional life, Mara keeps herself busy via a diverse range of interests, such as gardening, beekeeping and travel, and uses these to inform her unique designs. She cites her late mother as her biggest style inspiration.
“Jewellery is my way of dreaming and storytelling,” she says. “Gemstones are Mother Nature’s gift to us. Through each gem, she tells a story of beauty, resilience, courage, romance and adventure. I hope my designs reinterpret those tales with thoughtfulness, excitement and wonderment.”
Mara has her own online fine jewellery store where she sells her own line of home fragrances, which includes candles and diffusers. She was recently featured in Forbes magazine as a celebrated, independent female jewellery designer. She is also currently working on three collaborative projects.
- Chinese Zodiac Pendant Line: This is in collaboration with illustrator and niece Sophia Hotung.
- Jewelled Wood Collection: This unusual collection is being crafted with the help of a local wood artist using sustainably sourced, reclaimed wood.
Mara Hotung Jewels is available online.
